‘No one wants to leave the club in worse place’
BARNES DISMISSES FEARS ABOUT COMMITMENT OF CITY’S WANTAWAY PLAYERS
LEICESTER City academy graduate Harvey Barnes has said that no player wants to leave the club in a worse position than when they joined, amid uncertainty over the future of a number of players.
It has been suggested in some quarters that players’ futures being away from the club could be having an impact on the fight for survival this season.
A 5-3 loss against Fulham on Saturday left City two points adrift of safety with three games remaining.
Stars such as Youri Tielemans and Caglar Soyuncu are out of contract and expected to leave the club on free transfers in the summer, while others including James Maddison are also expected to leave at the end of the season, no matter what division the club are in.
Addressing the situation over players’ futures, Barnes said that not wanting to leave the club on a downward note is one of the motivations for the players whose futures are uncertain.
“All the lads who are out of contract at the end of the season, or whatever their situation, none of them want to leave this club in a worse position,” he told Sky Sports.
“That is not how anyone wants to leave. Nobody wants to leave on a bad note.”
The winger also outlined how a fight against relegation is a new experience for a number of players
Every player is going out to give it their all but little things are not there at the moment
in the squad, including himself. This season is the 25-yearold’s first experience of a fight for survival at the end of the season. “It will be for a lot of the players as well,” he said. “There are players who have had a lot of success here and the lads who have joined have had success at their previous clubs - that is why they are here.
“So it is new for a lot of us. It is down to us to get ourselves out of it.” One key problem for City this season has been in defence.
The loss against Fulham extended the wait for a Premier League clean sheet, with the last one coming before the World Cup break in November, when City came out as 2-0 winners over West Ham.
Barnes said that it is the little details that are making the difference for City, but is confident that the work being done can make a difference in the final three games of the season.
“We cannot concede five goals in games. We are never going to pick up points if we do that,” he added.
“Some of them were preventable but that is the story of our season.
“Every player is going out to give it their all but little things are not there at the moment. If a couple of players, or the team as a whole, are not doing that, you see the effect. This is a league where the one-per-cent things matter. You get punished.
“It is difficult to explain because there is talent here, lads with quality.
“In some games we have looked solid and not conceded a lot of chances so it is difficult to think how you can go from that to looking all over the place, so open and easy to play against.
“It is as difficult to understand as it is for the fans watching.
“But when you watch it back, the goals are preventable - and that is good.
“When you see stuff that is easy to tweak, blatant mistakes, it gives you confidence in a way because you think that if you can cut them out there is no reason why you cannot win games.”
Harvey Barnes on City’s troubles