On Saturday afternoon, Leicester City eventually beat Burton Albion 3-0 thanks to goals from winger/playmaker Will Alves, young striker Kirsten Otchere and Foxes hopeful Nathan Opoku. And, impressively and encouragingly, this was not the first time that any of that trio had scored during preseason.
With no fan-recognised senior centre forwards at LCFC at all, this development is particularly promising. However, veteran attacker Danny Ings (who represented sides like Liverpool, Aston Villa and West Ham United) is set to join the King Power outfit imminently, according to The Telegraph.
This addition would, naturally, offer extra firepower on Filbert Way in a proven yet slightly ageing capacity. Other youthful City stars stood out against Burton: Bade Aluko, Sammy Braybrooke and Louis Page are three notables.
This trio again showed their respective class in three different positions and staked genuine claims to be starters come the start of the League One season. But what other clues did the action and Russell Martin's team selection offer?
Russell Martin's clues as Leicester City face Burton Albion
It was seemingly a day when the ex-Southampton and Rangers head coach finally chose a preferred XI within two halves of football. The starting line-up was as follows: Stolarczyk; Thomas (c), Okoli, Nelson, Aluko; Skipp, Braybrooke; Mavididi, Page, Alves; Otchere.
And the substitutes: Vieites, Faes, Joseph, Choudhury, Ali, Wilson-Brown, Carr Donnelly, Neale, Hutchinson, Evans and Opoku.
As fans can probably already tell, new signings Alex McCarthy and Conor Chaplin are not yet fully integrated. There are no suggestions of fitness or injury worries, though they have only attended one training session each.
One major talking point ahead of the upcoming campaign is Luke Thomas. The troubled left back was named captain at Pirelli Stadium in a real nod of support from his boss.
Thomas, as this outlet has stated many times, has likely now arrived at his appropriate level (tier-three) to properly compete. The two centre backs are supposedly leaving; maybe Harry and transfer target John Souttar will be a brotherly partnership at the back.
Skipp is another who could be destined to leave; an agreed salary decrease (which is unlikely) is the only way this writer envisages the Tottenham Hotspur Academy graduate staying in LE2. Jakub Stolarczyk will face competition from at least McCarthy to start.
3-0 and Opoku, like Otchere, makes it two goals in two games.
— Josh Holland (@joshhollandLCFC) July 18, 2026
Riley Carr does incredibly well down the right and plays it back to Opoku. #LCFChttps://t.co/Nx9kilDt3p
​Aluko, Alves, Page and Braybrooke feel like part of the new side even at this stage; Otchere and Opoku are performing wonderfully, yet the former may be considered too young and inexperienced to lead the line. Meanwhile, Opoku appears to be taking his final opportunity to impress one last manager as a central forward understudy.
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