Foxes of Leicester
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This young Leicester player deserves a chance vs Rotherham

By Joey LeMaster

BURTON-UPON-TRENT, ENGLAND - AUGUST 09: (This image has been converted to black and white) Ben Nelson of Leicester City looks on from the dugout prior to the Carabao Cup First Round match between Burton Albion and Leicester City at Pirelli Stadium on August 09, 2023 in Burton-upon-Trent, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
BURTON-UPON-TRENT, ENGLAND - AUGUST 09: (This image has been converted to black and white) Ben Nelson of Leicester City looks on from the dugout prior to the Carabao Cup First Round match between Burton Albion and Leicester City at Pirelli Stadium on August 09, 2023 in Burton-upon-Trent, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) /
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Leicester City is a couple of games into the season and it has been nothing but success. The Foxes have played three games in the Championship and one game in the Carabao Cup. Enzo Maresca’s side has been victorious in all four of those games. With momentum currently on their side, the East Midland team travels to New York Stadium to take on Rotherham.

Last season, Rotherham finished 19th. This season, even though it has just begun, Rotherham is already in a bottom three spot in the league. So I believe it is safe to say Leicester’s squad has much more quality than Rotherham’s squad. Taking that into consideration, I believe it’s time for Leicester to play a young blue who has yet to play a single minute for the professional team.

Ben Nelson is a 19-year-old centre-back who is a product of the Foxes’ youth academy. He has made a couple of appearances on the professional teams bench. However, he has never made a single appearance for the professional squad. The English defender has made appearances in a couple of League Two squads last season. In the first half of the season, he played for Rochdale AFC where he made 12 appearances. He then spent the second half of the season playing for Doncaster Rovers where he made 15 appearances. Nelson has also made 51 appearances playing for Leicester’s U18 & U21 teams.

I think Nelson should make his LCFC debut against Rotherham for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I believe Maresca’s side could soon have a potential depth issue at the centre-back position. There are rumors that Harry Souttar, Timothy Castagne, Luke Thomas, and Victor Kristiansen will leave the squad before this transfer window ends. That leaves the team with six defenders left on the squad. That is not enough players for the quantity of games that takes place in the second tier of English football.

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Then secondly, and how I hinted at earlier, Rotherham is one of the weaker sides in the EFL. You don’t have to worry about the 19-year-old making his debut against a stronger side. This would be a fantastic scenario to debut Nelson in. He’s young but has experience in League Two and in the youth academy. This is someone you want to give more experience to before you’re likely promoted back to the English Premier League. I don’t believe Maresca should waste any time and he should get Nelson into the squad.