Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel says it felt good to be back following a 2-1 pre-season victory over Oxford United.
The Foxes started their pre-season campaign with a victory over the U’s after Demarai Gray and Jeffrey Schlupp score, despite falling behind early on.
The 29-year-old played 45 minutes in the match before being replaced by summer signing Ron-Robert Zieler at half-time, reports the Leicester City website.
Schmeichel explained his side benefitted from the workout as they prepare to defend their Premier League title during the 2016-17 season.
‘It was a good test for us,’ Schmeichel said.
‘We were a little bit rusty but I think it was all about getting the work in and getting the minutes in our legs, especially for the outfielders. I think everybody is happy.
‘They got a goal where we were a little disorganised and that’s a good lesson for us – we have to be quicker to organise ourselves like we were last season.
The shot-stopper insists that his side showed good spirit to fight back after going a goal down in their pre-season friendly.
‘Again, we showed the spirit that we have and the way that we play is very conducive to being behind sometimes – we can be very relentless when we’ve got the ball. Everybody put a good shift in and I think everybody, including the manager,’ he added.
The Danish international continued to say that the Foxes are currently working and training hard during pre-season to get the form back, that they produced last season.
‘Training is great and it’s good for getting your fitness, but getting the match sharpness and as a goalkeeper, getting a feel for distances and communication between each other – all those little details,’ Schmeichel said.
‘There’s always been competition in the squad and we’ve recruited some good players in the squad this season. It’s good to see them getting their first minutes for Leicester today.’
Three huge International Champions Cup fixtures follow the clash with Oxford, with a trip to Celtic Park to take on Celtic first up on Saturday, before City face Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.
‘As a kid when you’re growing up, we’re playing the sorts of teams that you dream of playing against. Everyone is looking forward to it.’
‘It’s a different pre-season than we’ve had before. We’ve tended to go to Austria for a week and then play all our friendlies in England, but we’ve got to get used to travelling in the Champions League, so it’ll be a good test for us,’ the 29-year-old concluded.
