DI’S THE NEW RI!
Puel thanks son for tip about the next Mahrez
IF LEICESTER have unearthed the new Riyad Mahrez then Foxes fans can thank Claude Puel’s son for bagging them a bargain.
New-boy Fousseni Diabate burst onto the first-team stage with two goals and a man-of-the-match display on his debut.
Boss Puel then revealed how son Gregoire gave him the inside track on the Mali forward, who signed this month for £2m from Corsican club Gazelec Ajaccio.
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Gregoire was a Gazelec team-mate of Diabate in the French Second Division – the same league where the Foxes discovered title-winning star Mahrez four years ago.
“I used my own opinion but my son knows Fouss very well and he gave me good news about him and about his positive, professional attitude,” said Puel senior.
“He said he was a good man and a good player and it was important for him to show this in his first game.
“My son played with him and I followed his games. I thought this player could have good attributes to play in the Premier League in the future.
“In France a lot of clubs knew this player and at Ajaccio he was a good Yp JK<M< D8;<C<P player but without perhaps being clinical. Of course he is not the same quality and the same possibility at the moment as an experienced player like Mahrez, but I think for the future he will be a good solution.”
Diabate announced his arrival just nine minutes into his debut, collecting a smart pass from Adrien Silva and producing a fantastic finish to open the scoring.
Kelechi Iheanacho doubled the lead three minutes later when he found the bottom corner from 20 yards and the £25m summer signing volleyed home a Christian Fuchs cross to make it 3-0 after 29 minutes. Andrew Hughes forced in a shot on the turn for Posh in the second half to give them hope.
But Diabate matched Iheanacho’s double with three minutes left when he buried a rebound after Jonathan Bond saved from Demarai Gray.
Wilfred Ndidi completed the scoring with the final kick of the game, finishing from 12 yards after another fine run by Diabate.
The Foxes have not won the FA Cup in their 134-year history and Leicester-born midfielder Harvey Barnes said: “You have to take every round as it comes and every round is a step closer.
“It would be great if we could progress closer to the final.”
Posh will return to League One duty, where they are four points outside the play-offs, and defender Liam Shephard said: “Promotion has been the main focus from the start.
“We are capable of being in the Championship.”