Fired-up Brendan’s got that grinning feeling
Maddison shows healthy respect for rules
POKER-LOVING James Maddison showed Gareth Southgate he’s a man with a very good hand.
Maddison proved again that he doesn’t need a full house when the man he really wants to impress is in one of the seats.
Southgate braved the chill to take his place in the stands and even he must have been chuckling behind his mask as the midfielder enjoyed a classy goal celebration with ‘pretend’ handshakes to his socially-distanced team mates.
It was worth celebrating – an absolute beauty – and one which must surely convince Southgate that it’s time to bring Maddison in from the cold.
The 24-year-old has been limited to just one sub’s appearance for England and at times he certainly hasn’t done himself any favours.
He was pictured in a casino on the night he’d pulled out of the international squad because he was too unwell to play with a virus.
Maddison went public with his disappointment at being omitted from Southgate’s squad for the Euro qualifiers with Ireland, Belgium and Iceland in November.
He’s convinced he’s good enough and if he can just get Southgate’s full backing he should be laughing.
Maddison brought a smile to proceedings with his celebration after breaking the deadlock with a stunning 38th- minute goal which forced the door open against stubborn Saints.
He latched on to a Youri Tielemans pass and smashed the ball home from a seemingly impossible angle to get Leicester in front.
They stayed there, adding a stoppage time goal from Harvey
Barnes, another England contender, to stay firmly in the title mix.
Maddison is happy to spread the joy, revealing: “Footballers, we get a lot of stick and it’s nice to put a lighter note on it.
“I don’t think you will find one person in the country who wants football to stop.
“I hope Gareth Southgate had his mask on! It’s nice to have him here. I want more international football, I’ve had a taste.
“If little things like that are what we need to keep football going then so be it.
“We have been told to stop gatherings of people and I tried to make it light-hearted.”
It was a bit tough on injuryravaged Saints because they battled away and forced Kasper Schmeichel into some fine saves.
Disappointed boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said he couldn’t have been more proud at the way his makeshift side had gone about their jobs. He said: “I’m proud of my team. They gave everything. It was the maximum we could have given.” Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers gets ready for tomorrow night’s clash with Chelsea desperate for his side not to slip away on the final run-in like last time around. They still finished fifth but surrendered a Champions League spot on the final day. Rodgers said: “We’re not going to win every game between now and the end of the season, but we’re going to do our best. “We’re a better team now a year on. The biggest reason in why we dropped off last season was that we were missing our best players, simple as that. “We still finished in a good position but I think that we will learn from that.”