U23s fall to five-star Leicester in Collins’ debut

Leicester City 5 (G. Thomas 16, Muskwe 20, 23, L. Thomas 51, Johnson 86) Wolves 1 (Campbell 84)

An experienced Leicester City side were too strong for Wolves in James Collins’ first match in charge of the under-23s following his move from Crewe Alexandra.

The Foxes got off to a quick start and put the young Wolves outfit under plenty of pressure in the early stages, and their dominance told after just 15 minutes when George Thomas put his side ahead with a well worked finish just inside the box.

Five minutes later, Leicester doubled their lead. Wolves were outdone by a cross from the right and Admiral Muskwe was on hand to turn the ball into the back of the net. The Leicester man got his second of the evening moments later when he rounded Wolves keeper Andreas Sondergaard.

Collins made a change at half-time with Callum Thompson making way for Terry Taylor, but the substitution didn’t have the desired effect as Leicester netted their fourth just five minutes into the second period when Luke Thomas bundled the ball home from a corner.

As the game wore on, Wolves had chances to get their way back into the match, but Austin Samuels headed over from a glorious chance before Chem Campbell fired centimetres wide after clever footwork helped him get his shot away.

However, the young Wolves forward, who signed his first professional contract with the club on his 17th birthday last week, got his team a consolation just under ten minutes time with a wonder strike from distance.

But that was as good as it got for Collins’ side, who conceded their fifth of the evening just moments after Campbell’s goal through defender Darnell Johnson and extending Wolves’ winless run in Premier League 2 Division 1.

COMING UP

The under-23s will make the short trip to Tividale on Wednesday night for the Birmingham Senior Cup second round tie against the Midland Football League Premier Division side. The match will kick-off at 7.45pm at The Beeches.

NEXT FIVE

10/01 Blackburn Rovers (H)

14/01 Tividale (A) BSC

20/01 Derby County (H) PLC

24/01 Leeds United (H) PLC

29/01 Liverpool (H) PLIC

TEAMS

Leicester: Johansson, Clark, Johnson, Dewsbury-Hall (Leshabela 64), L. Thomas, O’Connor, Muskwe (Reghba 57), James, G. Thomas, Kapustka, Hirst (Wright 57).

Unused subs: Stolarczyk, Shade.

Wolves: Sondergaard, Nya, Sanderson, Marques, Richards, Thompson (Taylor 46), Francis, Perry, Campbell, Graham (Tsun Dai 81), Samuels.

Unused subs: Bueno, Cundle, Dongda He.

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