Iheanacho working hard to push Leicester City into decision, says Chris Davies
Kelechi Iheanacho is doing exactly what Leicester City have asked him to do as he pushes for a Premier League starting spot, assistant manager Chris Davies has said.
The City striker produced a thunderbolt at Millwall to wrap up a 2-0 Carabao Cup third-round win on Wednesday night, having played a part in the opening goal with his shot rebounding for Ademola Lookman to finish.
It was Iheanacho’s second start of the season, following last week’s 2-2 draw with Napoli, but he is still waiting to earn a place in the Premier League 11 this campaign, despite finishing as top scorer last season after his stunning run of form over the final few months.
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Davies knows Iheanacho is having to be patient and admits the Nigerian’s performance was everything the staff wanted.
“It was an excellent goal,” Davies said. “You could say he set up the first goal in terms of having the shot parried, and then the second goal was a great individual strike.
“In general, his play, he was always available for the forward passes in the game and securing the ball and setting up the play was really good.
“It was a good all-around performance and obviously a goalscoring performance, which for a striker is everything. I’m really pleased for him. He’s had to be patient at times this season but he knows he’s a really important player for us.
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“We’re in a lot of competitions so there’s going to be a lot of opportunities for everyone to play. But Kele was an important player for us last season and there’s no doubt he will be an important player for us this season as well.
“All he can do is do what he did and when he gets an opportunity, perform as well as he can. That’s what we ask all of them to do.”
City will play Brighton at home in the next round of the competition and will therefore be favourites to reach the last eight. That would then be a fourth quarter-final for City since Rodgers took charge.