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Match Previews

Preview: Leicester City (H)

19 July 2019

The 2016 Premier League champions, Leicester City, are the visitors to the Jonny-Rocks Stadium on Saturday (kick-off: 3pm).

Brendan Rodgers top flight side visit for Cheltenham's first home pre-season friendly ahead of the new 2019/20 season.

It's another key game for Michael Duff's Robins as he prepares his side for the upcoming campaign, against a Foxes team that boasts an array of international standard talent.

Tickets for home fans are still available to buy on the day of the match and online here.

Team news

Reuben Reid will miss the game having had knee surgery this week. The striker is out of action until October.

Chris Hussey could return to the left after the left wing back missed the first two friendlies at Stratford Town and Hereford.

For Josh Debayo it will be an opportunity to play against the club he represented at under-23s level before making the switch to the Jonny-Rocks Stadium.

Opposition

The fixture will mark Leicester’s second pre-season game of the year with a heavy schedule of fixtures in the coming weeks. This following a 1-0 victory in their first pre-season game against Scunthorpe United, which saw new signing Ayoze Perez score on his debut for the club.

The previous Premier League champions will hope to continue to improve under manager Brendan Rodgers, who took over in February earlier this year after a successful spell at Celtic, having won two League titles, three Scottish League cups and two Scottish cups for the Scottish champions.The appointment of Rodgers saw another strong finish in the Premier League, seeing them to a 9th place finish after a slow start to the season under previous manager Claude Puel.

They continue to show their ambitions for the upcoming season having recruited well and investing a considerable amount in the transfer market, which saw signings Ayoze Perez join from Newcastle United and Youri Tielemans, signing permanently from Monaco after a very good loan spell at the Leicester.

Other notable signings include 21-year-old right back James Justin joining from Luton Town. Notable players still on display from last season include the likes of established England international Jamie Vardy, who scored 18 goals in their Premier League campaign last season and newly capped England international James Maddison who made his first England appearance in the summer, also scoring his first goal for England against Croatia in the Nations League.

Previous meetings

During the 2008/09 season in League One the two sides were league rivals, with Leicester coming out on top on both occasions with convincing 4-0 victories.

A first meeting in August 2008 at Whaddon Road saw Lloyd Dyer bag a brace for Saturday's opponents as they sealed all three points on their first visit to Cheltenham.

Then, later in the season at the King Power Stadium, Tom Cleverley was among the goal scorers as Leicester again sealed a 4-0 win in a campaign that saw them gain promotion to the Championship.

In January 2017, a Leicester under-23s side were dismantled in the EFL Trophy. Diego De Girolamo scored a hat-trick to help the Robins to a 6-1 win.

Tickets

Tickets are available to buy on the turnstiles for home fans and from the ticket office. Collections can also be made from the ticket office or the Completely Motoring Colin Farmer Stand collection point if you have purchased for this area of the stadium. They are also available to buy online in the lead up to kick-off.

The ticket office opens from midday and fans can also pick up their season tickets for the 2019/20 season from here. The club shop, selling the new away kit, will also be open from midday.

Match sponsors

We are delighted to be welcoming Just Camps as our match sponsors for Saturday's game. Just Camps specialise in holiday camps for kids and was launched in Cheltenham in 2010.

They provide a fun and safe environment for children to attend and lose themselves in an array of fun games and activities.

They've got holiday camps available throughout the summer holidays in Brockworth and Cheltenham. To find out more and to book your child onto one of the camps visit their website here.

Coverage

Keep up to date with team news, match updates, pictures and more on Twitter. Follow @CTFCofficial for the latest. You can also check out team news and goal updates on the club's Facebook page.

After the game check out the club website and read the match report, as well as discovering the reaction from inside the camp post-match.

Match Reports

Report: Robins 1, Leicester City 2

20 July 2019

Cheltenham Town pushed Premier League Leicester City all the way in this afternoon's friendly, narrowly losing at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium.

The Robins had led the former Champions for almost an hour here after Luke Varney had given his side an early lead with a perfect header.

But the Foxes, who put out two different teams in each half, scored in quick succession through Jamie Vardy and Marc Albrighton in the closing stages to claim the win on the day.

There were plenty of positives as Michael Duff's side continue their preparations for the season ahead.

They looked well drilled and defensively sound, although they'll be disappointed with the goals they conceded. Overall it was a creditable effort in front of a bumper summer crowd of almost four thousand.

Scott Flinders was called into an early save to deny Kelechi Iheanacho the first goal, claimed in the end by Varney with 16 minutes on the clock when he rose to meet Sean Long's diagonal ball from the right with a perfect downward header.

George Thomas and Wes Morgan had a couple of chances apiece but Flinders wasn't really troubled as the former Champions struggled to break down Michael Duff's men.

Leicester's best chance of the half fell to Iheanacho 10 minutes before the break, Callum Elder crossing from the left but the former Manchester City striker miscued his header wide of the target.

The Premier League side rang the changes at the break, changing their entire outfield team but again the Robins stuck to their task and more than matched their loftier opponents.

They had restricted the Foxes for 23 minutes of the second half until former England international Vardy got his side back on terms, slotting home past Flinders after Youri Tielemans centred from the right.

The Robins were then forced into an extended spell of defending after the goal and Albrighton made it two 15 minutes from time, racing onto Nampalys Mendy's threaded ball and rounding Flinders to stab home from a tight angle.

CHELTENHAM TOWN (3-5-2): Flinders; Long (Bowry 83), Raglan, Tozer (c), Boyle, Debayo (Cole 46); Broom, Ince, Clements (Brennan 90); Campbell (Addai 80), Varney (Lloyd 70). Subs not used: Lovett (Gk), Horton, Chamberlain.

LEICESTER CITY, FIRST HALF (4-4-2): Ward; Daley-Campbell, Morgan (c), Maguire, Elder (Fuchs 43); Wright, Amartey, Thomas, King; Muskwai, Iheanacho.

LEICESTER CITY, SECOND HALF (4-4-2): Ward, Justin, Soyuncu, Evans, Fuchs; Periera, Fitzhugh (Ndukwu 81), Mendy, Tielemans, Albrighton; Vardy. Subs not used: Johansson, Pennant

REFEREE: J Busby

ATTENDANCE: 3,707 (1,224 from Leicester)

Ticket News

Tickets on sale for Leicester City visit on Saturday

18 July 2019

Tickets for Saturday's visit of Premier League side Leicester City to the Jonny-Rocks Stadium are available to buy through the Cheltenham Town ticket office and online.

Michael Duff's side welcome the 2016 Premier League champions for the Robins first home pre-season friendly, and the first of three home games in a week.

Tickets for the visit of the Foxes are available in the build up to the game from the ticket office, which is open on Thursday and Friday between 10am and 3pm.

You can also buy on the day on the turnstiles, as well as any time online here.

Prices for Cheltenham's home pre-season friendlies are:

Adults	£12
Concessions	£6

Tickets for the Robins other home pre-season friendlies against Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday 23 July, and Burnley under-23s on Saturday 27 July are also available to buy from the ticket office.