LEADING LIGHT?
DEWSBURY-HALL WILL GET OPPORTUNITIES TO PROVE HE CAN BE A STAR IN CITY’S MIDFIELD
Please ensure all match reports reach the Echo Sportsdesk by Monday at 3pm
KIERNAN Dewsbury-Hall will be handed opportunities to prove he can be a leading light for Leicester City.
The homegrown midfielder, right, has appeared off the bench in the past five games, but starts have been few and far between.
Across the Premier League and Europa League, he was in starting first 11, for the 1-0 defeat at Legia Warsaw and made his first Premier League start in City’s 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday.
Manager Brendan Rodgers has said the 23-year-old from Shepshed will be given chances to show his qualities across the season, while giving him a list of areas he needs to
“He will start some games ,” Rodgers said.
“For his ongo ing development, he’s got to have a greater intensity when he doesn’t have the ball, getting up to people.
“That’s something we’ve spoken on, he’s got to press the game and tactically be in good positions.
“With the ball, it’s improving that positional play, improving that care with the ball.
“If he’s a midfield player in my team, I want him to look after the their passing. “That’s just time and confidence a n d patience. “I’m pretty sure he’ll end up being a really good player for us.
“It won’t be for the lack of opportunities.
“There will be enough opportunities there to start games or come in and affect games.
“But then you have to take those opportunities.
“He’s starting to have that belief that he is a player who can contribute.
“Let’s see over the course of the season how it ends up for him.”
Dewsbury-Hall is still searching for his first senior goal for the club.
He has come close in recent outings, hitting the bar in the Carabao Cup tie against Brighton and seeing a goalbound header inadvertently blocked by Kelechi Iheanacho against Spartak Moscow, and Rodgers feels a maiden City strike is around the corner.
“You know he’s got a knack for a goal,” the manager added.
“I think in all the games, we’re encouraging him to get up there. He’s playing in a position where he has to be up there affecting the game.”
He’s got to press the game, tactically to be in good positions and improve that care with the ball
Brendan Rodgers