BARNES IS BACK!
STAR FEELS GOALS WILL FLOW AGAIN
HARVEY Barnes feels the goals could flow for him after he lifted “a weight off the shoulders” with his first Leicester City strike since his serious knee injury, writes Jordan Blackwell.
Barnes hit the second of City’s goals on Thursday night as they moved into a 2-0 lead against Europa League opponents Napoli, only to be pegged back, their groupstage opener finishing 2-2.
It was Barnes’ first goal since a 2-1 win over Aston Villa in February, the same month he suffered a serious knee injury that required two surgeries and kept him out for the remainder of the campaign, as well as the European Championships. England manager Gareth Southgate namechecked him as a player who would have been in contention if fit.
After recovering, Barnes has started every game this season, and while the Countesthorpe-raised winger knew he was not going to be back to his best straight away, he feels like he will be able to take bigger strides towards top form now he has his first goal under his belt.
“It’s something I knew I had to be patient with because you can’t just expect it to click within the first few minutes of being back,” he said. “It takes a bit of time.
“I’ve played a few games and I feel fitness is coming on really well and my sharpness as well.
“As an attacker, you want to be scoring goals, so to get that first goal out of the way for the season, it’s a weight off the shoulders.
“Hopefully, I can kick on and continue scoring.”
Barnes played in a new front four for City, with Patson Daka leading the line on his home debut, Kelechi Iheanacho supporting behind, and with Ayoze Perez on the right. It was Perez who scored the opener, volleying in Barnes’ cross at the back post.
It was one of a number of good moves City put together, and Barnes believes City now have the attacking depth to cause any side problems – albeit defensive slackness ensured they only came away with a point on Thursday.
“They’re a very good side and we knew it was going to be a tough game,” Barnes said.
“After getting ourselves ahead in the game and playing some really good football, we will be disappointed not to come away with all three points.
“We knew the first few games in the group are important. You need to get as many points as you can, you don’t want to be chasing points come the end of the six games. You want to get yourself in a good position and then build on it.
“We won’t be too disappointed, but on the night there’s a little bit of a bitter taste not to come away with the win.”