Claude Puel stressed the importance of youth as Leicester beat West Brom
Saturday 10 March 2018 20:57, UK
Leicester manager Claude Puel said it is important to give his younger players game time after the Foxes ran out comfortable 4-1 winners over West Brom.
The 56-year-old made five changes to the side who drew 1-1 against Bournemouth at the King Power Stadium in their last league game.
His starting line-up included three 21-year-old players in Ben Chilwell, Wilfred Ndidi and Demarai Gray while Kelechi Iheanacho (21) and Fousseni Diabate (22) also made it onto the pitch.
"It is important to [make changes] to improve all the squad," Puel said. "To give strength to all the players because we can have a good chance [to win] with the different attributes of the squad.
"The young players like Diabate, Chilwell, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Gray - they are young but it is important to give game time and improve with them.
"There is a good balance between the senior and young players and we need to continue this run [of using young players] because it is good for the squad and for the future of Leicester."
Leicester were caught on their heels as as Salomon Rondon got ahead of Wes Morgan to give West Brom the lead after only eight minutes but the hosts levelled through Jamie Vardy to go into the break on even terms.
Goals after the break from Riyad Mahrez, Iheanacho and Vicente Iborra saw the Foxes eventually ease to the win and Puel admitted he was pleased with his team's second-half performance as they won their first Premier League match in six.
"It was a crucial game for us as we lost points at home with three draws," he said. "In the last few games we have had a lot of chances without scoring and it was important to be effective and efficient today.
"The first half was difficult because West Brom played well with direct play, getting to the second ball and quality by our box. It was end-to-end and it could have been 3-3 at the end of that half.
"It was important to have more management and quality in our football [in the second half] and play with the ball more on the floor.
"We scored some fantastic goals and With the confidence [after scoring[ we changed how this match went. I hope it is good momentum going forward."
