Ritchie De Laet did not enjoy the way he got dealt with at Stoke City, but, he says he does not want to show anything to his former employers.

De Laet had been a part of Stoke City for 2 years, but, did not get a single game to play there.

He then got transferred to Old Trafford which came as a surprise for most of the people. He did not play much there either.
De Laet is presently contracted to Leicester City where he has been a regular. He featured for the Foxes the other night against Stoke and did pretty well along with the other fellow defenders to help his team keep a clean sheet. Leicester won that match by 1-0.

In the interview after the game, when De Laet was asked if he was looking to show the Potters how good he is, the 25-year old said, “No, It’s not like that. They never gave me the opportunity. The fans over there are not connected to me. So, there’s not really anything to prove. Obviously, whenever you play against your former team, you don’t want to fail, but, I did not have any extra motivation against them. It’s just another game for me.”

When asked about his time at Stoke, De Laet said, “As I said, I sat outside for almost my entire tenure. So, it was annoying. I had come to England with big hopes and they kept me sidelined for 2 years. Tony was in charge; he bought me, but, surprisingly, never showed faith in me.”

“The scenario at Leicester is quite different from that. The players get fair number of chances and they also have the freedom to express themselves.”

For Leicester City so far, De Laet has played about 80 odd matches.

The illness might not be allowing Robin Soderling to feature on the court, but, it has not kept him away from the game, that’s for sure. While, he is not playing, he is busy directing the manufacturing process of the tennis balls. Yes, he has started his own ball manufacturing company named as RS All Court. It has already got the approval of ITF.

The RS All Court balls have not been used in any of the professional tournaments so far. They will be introduced in the Stockholm Open in the 2015 season.

Soderling told the reporters the other day that he’s in touch with the organizers of some of the other ATP competitions too and he hopes that some of them would give his balls a try.

According to Soderling, his ultimate target is to get his balls being used in a Grand Slam tournament.
When asked what prompted him to make his way into this ball manufacturing field, Soderling said, “Some time back, I was asked by a person ‘which tennis ball is of the greatest quality and is the most comfortable to play with?’ I was not able to answer because I hadn’t had any favourite ball and that was the time when this thing (opening a ball making company) came into my mind.”

“When I was on the bed because of the sickness and was not playing, I began giving it a deep thought and finally concluded that I should try my hand at it.”

“Normally, the ball manufacturers don’t get the assistance of the players. They do it on their own by considering the weight and other things. They have no idea of the player’s feel, but, with me being there with them, the player’s perspective will be put in the process too.”

It has been heavily speculated that Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson will sign a new contract in the next few days in order to cement his position as one of the top managers in the Championship. Pearson helped the Leicester get promotion into the Premier league in the best possible way, as they won the championship with a record points tally. Leicester have been trying to get into the Premier league for several years without much success. All the years of hard work has finally paid off after they were promoted automatically after getting more than 100 points last season.

Pearson only recently looked like keeping Southampton in the Premier league but he was sacked only a few months into the top division after falling out with the board. However, that does not seem to be a repeat of the same this time around after the manager is set to sign a new contract in the next few days. This will be one of the important deals for Leicester in the summer even before they try to bring in new players. Only recently did Pearson confirm that he planned to retain most of his players who did well in the Championship.

The former Southampton manager is thought to have earned just under £ 1 million for the promotion winning campaign. He is seeking a salary rise to around £ 3 million, but it remains to be seen if the club will accept this demand. Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers recently signed a new four-year contract that saw him earn around the same amount, but Liverpool finished second in the table last season. Despite this, it is believed that Pearson signing a contract is only a few days away.
“Contract negotiations are ongoing. There will be more information soon,” said vice-chairman Aiyawatt.

Leicester City’s transfer window saw them rejecting offers from Fulham as they attempted to sign the centre-back Liam Moore and despite making a bid of €2.5 million, it was not enough to lure him out of the Championship club.

Fulham also had their bids for the 21 years old Jeff Schlupp player of Leicester City denied. The head coach Nigel Pearson has already stated just how difficult the last 2 transfer windows have been as he has had to reject the interest for some of his promising players and the tactician has no intention in selling some of his rising stars.

The goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel is another performer of his squad that was wanted by clubs outside of the Championship league with Ac.Milan and Manchester United charging their way in attempt to sign the Danish goalkeeper.

“It is obviously an honor to be linked with clubs of that nature. But you know it is part and parcel of the game so I can’t comment too much. It is the way it is. It is a sign you are doing something right and that is great. It is recognition but I don’t need people to talk about me in that way because I know when I have played well and when I have had a bad game.” Schmeichel said.
Nigel Pearson did allow however Wigan Athletic on acquiring the 24 years old player Martyn Waghorn on a loan deal that will be seeing Waghorn playing with Wigan Athletic for the rest of the season.

The head coach of Wigan Athletic, Uwe Rosler praised the player he managed to sign from Leicester City as he considers Waghorn to be a versatile performer that can help them in the Championship league.

“He is a versatile attacking player who can operate in all three positions in the front line, and he also gives us great quality from set-piece situations’’

The manager of Leicester City, Nigel Pearson, has admitted that he is thinking about the English player Kevin Phillips who is a free agent at the moment.

Phillips had signed for Crystal Palace on a permanent basis at the start of the ongoing season, but, he couldn’t make his mark there. Eventually, the Eagles released him a few days ago.

Since the time he left Crystal, he is being linked to the Championship table toppers.

Pearson has managed Phillips in the past as well when he was in charge at West Bromwich Albion. The 40 years old striker had played pretty well under his guidance there. The tuning between the two is pretty good and that’s why the Foxes boss is interested in landing the veteran at the King Power Stadium.

When asked if he is interested in Phillips, Pearson said, “In the last match that he had played under me at West Bromwich Albion, he had found the net thrice. So, I guess it would not be that smart if I don’t show any interest in him at all. Yes, I am a bit interested.”

When asked about not including a couple of his key players in the starting XI for the FA Cup game against Stoke City last Saturday, Pearson said, “As a manager, you need to rotate the players to make sure that they don’t get mentally drained out. You can’t go into every game with the same starting XI.”

Leicester lost that match by 2-1 and got knocked out of the tournament. They could have suffered a bigger defeat as they were down by 0-2 with just a few minutes to go, but, David Nugent found the net for them towards the end and diminished the margin of defeat.

Chris Wood, the striker for English Championship club Leicester City has stated that he is still learning his trade and striving for more perfection as he targets more starts under manager Nigel Pearson as the Foxes look to mount yet another challenge to get back to the Premier League.

The 21 year old has made only three starts for the Foxes this season as he finds himself behind experienced heads like David Nugent and Jamie Vardy in the striking options for Nigel Pearson. And speaking to BBC Radio Leicester, the youngster stated that he knows he still has to do the basics and make absolutely sure that his game is perfect.

He knows that he has to do his work on the pitch adding that he would love to get a start, get on the score sheet and take things forward from there. But he admitted that as long as that doesn’t happen, he will have to put his head down and work hard in order to get in favor of the boss and given the chance, he will try and help Leicester City in their fight for promotion.
Nugent and Vardy have already got eight and four goals respectively and that makes things very difficult for the youngster who will not only have to displace two experience players but also, two players who are in fine form.

But Wood mentioned that he has never been one to shy away from a challenge and he knows that apart from working hard, he will have to patient for his chance.

The striker moved to Leicester City in January 2013 from West Bromwich Albion and is considered among the brightest prospects in English football. It is how the Championship club and Pearson use him that will make or break a future England player.

Former Manchester United defender Ritchie de Laet has said that Leicester City are raring to go when the season kicks off this weekend. Leicester City managed to miss out on promotion last season after suffering a defeat against Watford in the cruellest of circumstances last season.

Now, they are being fuelled by this defeat according to de Laet, who recently made the move to Leicester a permanent one. Pre-season has been extremely tough for the club, but it has helped them get a lot of fitness under their belt according to de Laet.

Leicester City’s first match of the season will be against Middlesbrough. Even though Middlesbrough are only expected to be a play-off contender, this is unlikely to prevent Leicester City from having one of the toughest matches of the season. They will be facing another contender for the promotion spots in the form of Leeds United next weekend. De Laet has said that it is imperative that Leicester go into the Leeds match with three points on the board from this encounter. Middlesbrough have been so far brilliant in the pre-season friendly matches, and Leicester expect a tough encounter.
Leicester City, though, have a great record against Middlesbrough at the Riverside stadium as they have not suffered a defeat since 2002.

“We have had four or five weeks of really hard graft and we just want to get going now. I feel all right. I have had a couple of 45 minutes and a full 90 as well, so I feel great and I just want to get going. We have done a lot of running and we had a really hard week in Austria, where it was hot with high humidity. It was training in the mountains and good preparation. It is looking good,” said the former United man.

Nigel Pearson, the manager of Championship club Leicester City has admitted that although his side is in brilliant physical shape as they start the new season of football, the key to be successful this campaign will be to remain mentally tough throughout the season and focus solely on the challenges in front.

The Foxes finished their pre-season preparations with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of lowly Notts County but bounced back to defeat Middlesbrough 2-1 in their first match of the Championship campaign over the weekend. And Pearson has admitted that the challenges lying ahead for the club are tough and the only way to overcome those challenges is by turning their ability with the football into victories and for that to happen, the players need a level of mental toughness.

Pearson mentioned that in terms of fitness, the Leicester City players are absolutely fine, but admitted that it is almost amazing how much harder and further one can run if one is in a good nick mentally. He mentioned that he will have to wait till the start of the season to get an idea of that though.

Pearson is adamant that it is what holds the key to success. He added that one can have all the ability in the world but the foundation for success is laid by the commitment and the desire to make things happen, even when the going gets tough. He stated that sometimes, teams have to tough it out and many teams have been found wanting in that area at various times in their seasons.

And Pearson believes with the players he has and the kind of pre-season training they have had, there is no reason Leicester City cannot mount another challenge to reach the Premier League directly or through the play-offs.

It is the time of the year when Wigan are at their best. The Premier league strugglers have been perennially involved in a relegation battles ever since being promoted to the top flight more than eight years ago. They are once again involved in a relegation battle for the 2012-13 season as well. Wigan will be having several matches against teams in and around them in the table. As a result, there is a feeling at the DW stadium that they will be able to pull off a great escape once again. They will be hosting Norwich city during the weekend.

This is seen as yet another opportunity for Roberto Martinez’ men to take three points given that the match will be at the DW stadium. Norwich come into the encounter relatively safe from the threat of relegation. Yet, Chris Hughton has spoken about the importance of finishing the season strongly. His team has taken this four points from the last four matches. They are seven points above Wigan in the table. Hughton has praised the way Wigan have been playing in recent weeks. He has said that there is every chance that Martinez may be able to repeat the great escape once again.

There are eight matches remaining in the Premier league. “It has to be about us. We have to go with the same approach as we did at Sunderland in our last match and give ourselves every chance of winning the football game. You just hope they don’t have a good day. As a footballing team they are an excellent side. Defensively, they have had some difficulties and without that they wouldn’t be in the position they are in now because their form at times has been good,” said Hughton. Norwich recently announced the signing of a new striker.

The defender of Leicester City, Ritchie De Laet, has said that his team is still in the race of promotion to the Premier League.

Leicester City has performed poorly off late and has managed to get just one point from the last three games. The recent poor performances have taken Leicester to no. 5 from no. 2 in the points table. But, with a handful of matches still to be played, Laet believes that his team will make a strong comeback and will eventually end up in top 3.
Talking to the reporters ahead of Leicester’s match against Blackburn Rovers, Laet said, “Tomorrow’s game is very important for us. We need to get back to top form as soon as possible. There is not much time left and if we have to finish in top 3, we will have to play top quality football in the remaining games.”

“Things can turn around quickly in this competition. You look at Blackburn Rovers. They were right at the bottom of the points table a few weeks ago. They won a few matches and now, they are at a decent position in the points table.”
“We can also do what Blackburn has done, but, for that, we need to have self belief. We shouldn’t get demoralized at this stage. We should go out there and play our natural game. That’s the only way we can bounce back. If we keep thinking about our performance in the last three games, that will affect our performance in the upcoming games. We need to play with free mind.”

Blackburn Rovers have lost only one out of their last eight matches and Laet admitted that defeating Blackburn would not be easy. The Belgian defender said, “Blackburn has been in great form off late. So, beating them won’t be that easy. They are high in confidence and they will play with attacking approach. We will give our 100% and hopefully, will end up getting three points.”