Leicester City's Development Squad were held to a 1-1 draw by Blackburn Rovers despite a positive performance at King Power Stadium in Premier League 2 Division 1 on Monday evening.

Goalkeeper Eldin Jakupović was the only over-age player to feature for City, replacing Viktor Johansson, while Vontae Daley-Campbell, Filip Benković and Sam Hughes came in for Mitchell Clarke, Alex Pașcanu and Darnell Johnson in a defensive shake-up for the home side on gameweek two.

The Foxes were ahead inside two minutes as midfielder Callum Wright, who joined the Club from Blackburn in January 2018, muscled his way out of a midfield tussle to play a perfect ball into Ali Reghba.

With just Rovers goalkeeper Andrew Fisher to beat, Reghba, an Ireland Under-19s international forward who joined Leicester in the summer, then tidily slotted it into the far corner to make it 1-0 to City.

Blackburn, who beat Leicester in their last meeting back in February, gave their hosts a major scare in the seventh minute, meanwhile, when Harry Chapman cut inside and clipped the post from 25 yards.

Elsewhere, just before the half-hour mark, Wales midfielder George Thomas was played in by Zimbabwe forward Admiral Muskwe – and his pass across goal was nearly deflected into his own net by Matty Platt.

With 10 minutes of the first half remaining, Reghba was unlucky not to double his tally, latching a smart pass from Wright and hitting it first time, but Fisher parried his low drive into the base of the near post.

City were unchanged after the break. Their endeavour, however, remained intact and, when Thomas ghosted into space and laid it up for Muskwe, the Foxes went within inches of opening up a two-goal lead.

However, Muskwe’s effort, a low glancing effort from around 10 yards out, drifted mere inches wide of Fisher’s far post. It was a miss which would come to cost the Club's Under-23s as time wore on.

With 64 minutes on the clock, Rovers won a free-kick on the edge of the area, which fell to Joe Grayson in the box to neatly place it beyond Jakupović in the Foxes net and restore parity on the scoresheet.

Blackburn carried an increased threat after levelling the scores and the Foxes were forced to endure several uncomfortable moments which, while only half-chances, threatened to end in defeat.

In the dying moments, though, it was Leicester who would rue their luck in front of goal as Muskwe broke free and aimed for the bottom corner, only to be denied by Fisher in the Blackburn net.

Major moment

Ali Reghba Opens The Scoring For City's U23s Irish forward Ali Reghba scores the first goal of the game in just the second minute.

After impressing greatly during a two-game trial spell last season, all associated with City's Development Squad will be delighted to see Ali Reghba open his account in 2019/20.

Senior Professional Development Phase Coach, Steve Beaglehole, referred to Reghba as a 'rough diamond' last week and his finish certainly had a degree of sparkle to it after just two minutes.

Who impressed?

Expand photo Callum Wright After joining City from Blackburn in 2018, Callum Wright was in fine form on Monday.

Speaking live on LCFC TV, former Fox, Sean St Ledger said: "It's Callum Wright for me. He played a great pass into [Ali] Reghba and his overall performance was really good.

"When you play against your former club, you desperately, desperately try to play well and nine times out of 10, you don't, but he was great tonight."

Where does it leave us?

Expand photo Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was as assertive as ever for Leicester.

Despite registering another point on the board, City's Under-23s drop down to seventh in Premier League 2 Division 1, following Derby County's 1-0 success at Southampton on Monday.

Coming up…

Expand photo Admiral Muskwe Admiral Muskwe wrestles for possession for City.

City’s youngsters return to King Power Stadium on Friday, when they will welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Filbert Way in Premier League 2 – a fixture you can watch for free on LCFC TV (7pm BST kick-off).

The details…





City: Jakupović; Daley-Campbell (Clark 59'), Hughes (Pașcanu 74'), Benković, Ughelumba; G. Thomas (c), Leshabela, Dewsbury-Hall, Wright (Tee 78'); Reghba, Muskwe

Subs not used: Johansson, L. Thomas

Goal: Reghba 2’

Attendance: 620