Leicester City finalized their pre-season preparations with a 1-0 defeat against Genoa at the King Power Stadium following a behind-closed-doors loss to Coventry. Manager Russell Martin praised his squad’s aggression and tactical progress before upcoming competitive fixtures.
Leicester City concluded their summer slate with back-to-back friendly defeats, falling 1-0 to Genoa after a behind-closed-doors loss by the same scoreline against Coventry City. Lorenzo Colombo’s strike settled Saturday’s clash at the King Power Stadium, but Russell Martin remains convinced his tactical philosophy is taking root ahead of their League One opener against Notts County.
City dominated possession early on, carved out openings for Liam Cullen, and pushed a high defensive line with Ben Nelson and Caleb Okoli jumping forward to squash counter-attacks. However, Nelson suffered an injury late in the first half, dampening an otherwise assertive display. Martin shrugged off the scoreline, prioritizing performance over result.
He said: “We limited them to very little, they scored from a mistake – which is a shame. But so many positives, the only negative to come out of it was the result and Ben Nelson’s injury. Hopefully it’s nothing serious and we’ll assess that in the next couple of days.”
Martin dismissed fears that his passing style lacks directness. Leicester actively looked to break lines rather than circulate possession aimlessly, while new loan signing Tommy Watson joined post-match training to boost attacking width.
Evaluating the overall summer work, Martin stated: “The Coventry game behind-closed-doors , the guys were fantastic, it was a really close game, we had some brilliant chances and played some great stuff. We played two top flight teams, really strong opposition, and we looked really good.”
The manager remains firmly encouraged by the pressing and high-energy identity shown on the pitch.
He added: “I think the identity of the team is clear. We were brave on the ball, played some brilliant football, really aggressive with the ball – we gained the ball so many times. The lads were great, they ran and fought.”
Focus now shifts immediately to competitive football against Northampton Town in the Carabao Cup first round.
Martin concluded: “We probably should have won the game tonight. Thankfully the season hasn’t started yet, we’ll learn a lot from this but I’m really happy where the players are at.”
