Leicester City joint-transfer priority clear as Conor Hourihane impact pays off

After over two years of watching a very unlikable core of players, Leicester City fans cheered each of their three goals at Burton Albion with extra celebration.

City followed up their wins over Northampton Town and Bristol Rovers with their best performance of the summer yet. All three goals came from players who weren't part of the squad that was relegated from the Championship with Kirsten Otchere, Will Alves and Nathan Opoku getting on the scoresheet once again.

Otchere's goal came with a slice of fortune on the brink of half-time. Alves' finished a perfect team goal and Opoku benefitted from Riley Carr's excellent winger play. City could have scored another four with the way they tore Burton apart.

Here are Josh Holland's takeaways from the win at the Pirelli Stadium...

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We'll start with something that was noticed before kick-off. Oliver Skipp, Sammy Braybrooke and Louis Page all started in City's midfield and as their warm-ups came to an end, they embarked in one final drill run by assistant manager Conor Hourihane.

Set-up in a triangle similar to how the trio played on the pitch, the ball was knocked between them with first-touch and second-touch passes. The two No.8s (Braybrooke and Page) were instructed to stay on their toes and pick the right time to bounce the ball off Skipp.

Hourihane, who made over 575 first-team appearances as a central midfielder, was in the middle of the three, occasionally pressing the man on the ball to force them into the right pass.

In the game, the same process played out with Burton's Charlie Webster often pressing one of the midfielders to force them to play forward. It worked at times, especially in the second half - special shout-out to Tommy Neale and Hamza Choudhury who were very good when they came on.

I nearly called this a 'pressing concern' but that would be stretching it considering Burton's press didn't actually cause any problems or stop Leicester from playing. However, the early stages of yesterday's game do present a potential problem in the future.

Burton set-up in a 4-4-2/4-2-4 formation out of possession with experienced midfielder George Evans sitting deep and Webster often joining the front four in the press. It was clearly something purposely deployed as Evans was heard shouting 'now' and 'press' whenever City had possession in their defensive third.

Ben Nelson and Caleb Okoli, despite both their struggles with the ball in the past, seemed to get over the initial shock of the aggressive press quickly. But on the couple of occasions, it did force the full-backs to concede possession when rushed into a pass, or give the midfielders little room to breath when the first pass was made.

As Martin has insisted on all summer, mistakes are fine in pre-season and giving possession away when pressed is, in some way, a mistake. It didn't take Leicester long at all to find ways through the press with wingers Stephy Mavididi and Will Alves given the ball more.

The positive is that they found a way to answer it.

Before pre-season started, a new midfielder would have likely been at the top of the transfer list. Harry Winks and Henry Cartwright have departed, yet the position doesn't appear to be as much of a concern with Braybrooke, Page, Alves and Oliver Skipp looking good.

However, interest in the latter will force City's hand and they might not have to look further than Burton's Charlie Webster. The 22-year-old was the Brewers' best player in the first half and has a very similar profile to Braybrooke.

The former Chelsea academy ace is small, agile and technically great. He covered the pitch well, got stuck in and played some neat one-touch passes in tight areas.

I was impressed with his performance for Burton and isn't likely to cost much at all. If Leicester don't show interest, someone will this summer without a doubt.

News that Danny Ings' transfer to City is no longer happening means the need for a new face in the forward line is even greater. Even with Ings, they needed a young, prolific goalscorer. They still have to add that specific striker.

There is an argument to be had that Opoku is worthwhile keeping to fill the role that Ings was expected to fill as back-up. He's been impressive in pre-season and at 24, it would make sense. They need to sign a new striker and they need to do so quickly.

But it's becoming clearer and clearer that Martin's side needs new blood in central defence. Whoever comes in needs to be able to defend, first and foremost, but also must be a natural in possession.

Leicester will have a shortlist of centre-backs who can do them things but with the interest in Ben Nelson, Caleb Okoli and Wout Faes, they must be ready to get new faces through the door sooner rather than later.

As mentioned above, City aren't 100% comfortable when pressed at the back, so bringing in defenders who will get the passes right is a must.

Something that I am keeping a close eye on during pre-season, and will continue to do so up until that trip to Notts County, is the players who come away each game with more credit in the bank. Before Burton, I listed Skipp and Olabade Aluko as players to watch out for. They continued to shine.

But 'wildcard' selections who did their hopes of being in Martin's plans some good include Nathan Opoku, Riley Carr and Jayden Joseph. The latter was given the captain's armband when Luke Thomas came off.

Will Alves, Sammy Braybrooke and Jakub Stolarczyk all strengthened their case to be first names on the teamsheet. The two games against Cadiz and Malaga will be different tests, but Martin is keeping his cards close to his chest.

Asked if he is close to having an idea of what his starting XI on the first day of the season could be, he said: "No because we have three players training this morning (Conor Chaplin, Alex McCarthy and Harry Souttar) who will be very close to being in that I'm sure.

"I'm learning a lot about the players. I don't think the strongest 11 will be [known] maybe until the week of the season. Everyone has an opportunity at the minute and they're doing brilliantly.

"There's real competition in a few positions and some we need to strengthen. But also, give a lot of the young guys an opportunity to experience what it's like, they've been great. We'll wait and see, it'll start formalising closer to the season.

"Right now, genuinely, it's up for grabs."

It's crunch time for Leicester City as they face a serious rebuilding process in League One. The transfer window is open and we will see players heading in and out of the King Power turnstiles.

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