Of Fosse and Foxes hits new milestone

A personal message from the author:

Of Fosse and Foxes today passed 32,262 page views - the capacity of the King Power Stadium - and I would like to thank each and every one of you that has read these pages over the past three years. To have seen the stadium full against Real Madrid before this season and to know that I have reached a readership equivalent to the colossal support that day is breathtaking.

Jeff Schlupp makes successful return to Foxes' reserves

Schlupp: Firing on all cylinders

Leicester City striker Jeffrey Schlupp has made a successful return to the Foxes' reserve team following his spell on the sidelines through injury.

The Ghanaian international scored City's opener as the B-squad went on to record a solid 3-0 victory over Northampton Town's reserves in a behind-closed-doors fixture at Belvoir Drive.

Schlupp played his first hour of football since a knee injury sustained at Nottingham Forest in early January. The 19-year-old put on an impressive display alongside fellow first-teamers Matt Mills and Aleksandar Tunchev, whilst stand-in forward Franck Moussa netted a brace in the second half.

"It was great to see Jeff back on the pitch again and he scored a terrific goal, but fair play to Northampton, they made it a very tough game in the first half. I felt we needed to play with more tempo and we did that in the second," said Development Coach Steve Beaglehole after the game, "I was particularly pleased with Franck Moussa. The plan was to take Jeff and Tom Hopper off after an hour; we didn't have another striker in the group so Franck went and played up front and scored two terrific goals."

Schlupp could now be fit enough to feature in the squad to take-on Coventry City at the King Power Stadium this Saturday, whilst Martyn Waghorn and Darius Vassell are also shaping-up for a return to action. The return of two more attacking players, who featured heavily during Nigel Pearson's last reign and under Sven Goran Eriksson respectively, is sure to give current Leicester manager Pearson a boost as he looks to offload the out of favour defender Matt Mills.

Former City skipper Matt Oakley is now back in training with the first-team squad, however winger Paul Gallagher is expected to remain sidelined for another fortnight following his hamstring injury.

Ousted Matt Mills set for Leeds United loan

Ousted Leicester City defender Matt Mills looks set to join Leeds United on loan, Of Fosse and Foxes understands.

Mills did not train with the Foxes' first team in the run-up to their 0-1 away win against Derby County last week and did not travel to Pride Park as part of the match day squad. It is though he is no longer a part of Nigel Pearson's plans, with the manager having a choice of three other highly-rated centre halves to call upon.

Those three other centre backs - Ivorian international Sol Bamba, Irish internation Sean St Ledger and £1 million signing Wes Morgan - all features as Leicester held on to beat Derby, whilst Mills is thought to be distraught at having lost the captaincy and the opportunity to play for his boyhood club.
"My concern is always to pick the side I think is best to win a given game. That is what I have done tonight and always will," said Pearson of the matter, "The relevance of how much he cost is for others to discuss, not for me to discuss. I am not interested in egos or price tags, I am interested in the group being winners."

Newly-appointed Leeds manager Neil Warnock is keen to strengthen the Whites' defence and feels a man like Mills could fulfil an important role at Elland Road.

"It's been clear over the last couple of months that defensively we're not good enough," said Warnock, "We'll score goals and create goals, but the season's going to come down to whether we can get players in who'll give us the chance to have a run. We need leaders on the pitch."

City fans angered again by TV coverage

Leicester City supporters have been dealt another frustrating blow by a TV company following the announcement that the Foxes' FA Cup sixth round tie away to either Birmingham City or Chelsea will be televised.

The game will kick-off at 2:05pm on Sunday, 18th March, which is also Mothering Sunday and this has upset many fans who now feel they will not be able to travel to support their club.

The good news is that City's record on televised games this season has been impressive, with wins over Nottingham Forest, Derby County (twice) and Southampton all shown on live TV.

Conclusions from Thursday night at Pride Park

Derby County	0-1	Leicester City
	(HT 0-1)
		Danns 16

Pride Park, attendance: 28,205
BBC Match Report

Conclusions from a busy week whilst I was away

Norwich City	1-2	Leicester City
	(HT 1-1)
Hoolahan 23		St Ledger 5 Nugent 71

Carrow Road, attendance: 26,658
BBC Match Report

---

Watford	3-2	Leicester City
	(HT 2-2)
Mariappa 5 Murray 33 Forsyth 80		Nugent 11, 18

Vicarage Road, attendance: 11,800
BBC Match Report

---

Leicester City	2-1	Cardiff City
	(HT 1-0)
Gallagher 41 (pen), 71		Whittingham 77 (pen)

King Power Stadium, attendance: 21,375
BBC Match Report

Conclusions from the Falmer Stadium

Brighton & Hove Alb	1-0	Leicester City
	(HT 0-0)
Buckley 90

Falmer Stadium, attendance: 20,223
BBC Match Report

Frozen Conclusions from Middlesbrough

Leicester City	2-2	Middlesbrough
	(HT 1-1)
Nugent 7 Beckford 86		McDonald 17 McMahon 79

King Power Stadium, attendance: 20,512
BBC Match Report