Claude Puel happy with Kelechi Iheanacho after FA Cup brace

Claude Puel is happy with Kelechi Iheanacho after the 21-year old scored a brace to lead Leicester City to a 2-0 win over Fleetwood Town in the FA Cup third round replay.

The Nigerian was handed a rare start against Jamie Vardy’s former club at the King Power Stadium, and he duly returned the favour by having a telling say in Leicester City’s progress to the fourth round of football’s oldest competition.

Following his remarkable display against Fleetwood Town, it feels like Kelechi Iheanacho may have just handed himself a lifeline at Leicester City, as Claude Puel appeared to suggest.

The Frenchman only had good words to say about the former Manchester City striker and insisted that he must now look to build on this performance to get into the side on a more regular basis. He said:

"“I think it was fantastic for him and the squad, that he scored two quality goals,” Puel  was quoted as saying by the Leicester Mercury. “I was happy with his performance from the beginning of that game. He showed his quality and his use of the ball – and he scored two good goals.“It is good for his confidence. It was a good performance and I hope it gives him some consistency and confidence."

"“It will do him good. It was important he gave a good response and now he has to continue this hard work. Any game time he can score a goal it is a good thing.“I think Kelechi has kept a very positive attitude on the training ground, without game time and sometimes not being in the squad.“He works hard on the pitch and this is the most important thing for a young player because sometimes he may get frustrated and disappointed.“It is important to always keep a positive attitude and outlook and continue his hard work, especially for a young player because they must be patient to get game time. He is a good example.“Sometimes it is difficult to give all the game time to some of the players because for example we have six strikers in his position.“Without a good balance in the squad it is difficult to manage all these players and continue to improve them.“It will be important in this transfer window to find this good balance and I hope Kelechi will get more game time in the future.”"

Since his arrival, Kelechi Iheanacho has barely had decent game time at Leicester City. The Nigeria international has started just six games of the 14 that he has appeared in, scoring three goals and contributing to another.

One of the major reasons behind Puel’s reluctance to play him is Jamie Vardy’s importance to the side, and just how crucial it is to have someone who can complement the Foxes’ main man well. In this case, it’s Shinji Okazaki who generally does that, meaning that there’s no room at all for Iheanacho.

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Surely, it’s clear that the £25 million man can’t continue to warm the bench, and neither can he play alongside Jamie Vardy, which leaves Claude Puel with very few options.

For now, however, Kelechi Iheanacho can relish another chance to start for Leicester City as his side face Peterborough in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday.