Reserves blunt the blades

[davieG]

OS

Reserves Record Blades Win

Posted on: Tue 05 Apr 2011City's youngsters proved the match-winners among several first team regulars at Belvoir Drive on Tuesday, as the Foxes reserves beat a young Sheffield United side.

With the likes of Lloyd Dyer, Steve Howard, Bruno Berner and Aleksandar Tunchev all extensively involved, it was three of the Club's rising stars that made the most telling contributions.

Young professionals Nathan Hicks, Ben Milnes and Adi Yussuf all found the net in a 3-1 win - goalkeeping coach Mike Stowell taking the reins from the sidelines with Sven-Goran Eriksson and Derek Fazackerley interested onlookers.

Having played in two behind-closed-doors fixtures already, Tunchev passed another milestone with his first 90 minutes on his comeback from a long-term knee injury, completing the match comfortably and looking increasingly sharp in defence.

Berner, Dyer and Howard, all of whom were in the travelling party at Middlesbrough on Saturday, played around three-quarters of the match before being substituted.

Others involved included Michael Lamey, Joao Teixiera, Leon Crncic and young goalkeeper Adam Smith, who was recently awarded his first professional contract.

After the game, Stowell said: "We had players out there today that needed time for fitness, others that needed some sharpness and some young players who need to show the management what they're capable of so it was good for them to be among the goals

"A full 90 minutes is something Aleksandar Tunchev has been striving towards. His hours on the training pitch are surpassing 90 minutes, but you need that time on the pitch. He's come up against a Sheffield United team that wanted to beat him, wanted to score past him and he's done ever so well.

"These games are useful because you need strength in depth in your squad - you can't go through a season with 14 or 15 players these days, you need 19 or 20.

"Lloyd, Steve and Bruno, who have all played today, could be involved on Saturday so they need to be ready to go."

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

Oh, Aleksandar

I thought Hamann was ressie coach though?

[MikeyT]

Really pleased Tunchev is doing so well. He really does deserve a bit of luck now.

[MattyFromLE]

C'mon Tunch!

[MikeyT]

Stringer: Tunchev played well for #lcfc . Solid, tracked well, ahead of the game. A couple of missed tackles but 7/10 easy. Needs a contract though

[Jimmy]

I'd be surprised if after spending all this time and money on his rehab of we didn't give Tunch at least a 1 year deal to see what happens next season

[ajthefox]

I'd be surprised if after spending all this time and money on his rehab of we didn't give Tunch at least a 1 year deal to see what happens next season

Be silly not to really, especially considering how good we all know he could be

[MPH]

I Just hope Tunchev is the type of player sven likes.... its been ages since i saw him play so i have no recellection as to how fast he is... and sven seems to like pace...

[The Doctor]

Tunch was always comfortable on the ball, some sven has clearly been after in the heart of defence with hobbs being sidelined for bruma/mee.

So is there a chance we may see a comeback before the end of this season (at donny or v ipswich)?

[Edmund]

I'd be surprised if after spending all this time and money on his rehab of we didn't give Tunch at least a 1 year deal to see what happens next season

Even if he manages only 20 games he'll be indispensable if he reaches the form of old.

With a proper pre season and the right fitness staff there's no reason why he shouldn't be back to his old self for next season. Mentally he seems to be very strong considering he's back up and running now which is always the hardest part to overcome with a long term injury.

I bet he's hungry to play after so long on the sidelines with a point or two to prove.