Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall reveals Leicester City pre-season aim ahead of important decision
Fresh from his spell at Luton, the midfielder has belief in his own ability to convince Brendan Rodgers that he deserves a spot in the club's senior squad for the new campaign
Jordan Blackwell
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in training at Seagrave last week (Image: Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall aims to be one of Leicester City's best performers in pre-season to convince manager Brendan Rodgers that he deserves a place in the squad.
The 22-year-old midfielder returns to City this summer after a season impressing on loan at Championship side Luton.
Rodgers ran the rule over Dewsbury-Hall when he trained with the City first team in the final week of the campaign, and will do so again when the squad reconvene in July.
Shepshed-born Dewsbury-Hall showed his qualities in the behind-closed-doors friendlies last year as one of the club's standout performers, and replicating that this pre-season is his objective.
Then, he and Rodgers will have to decide whether he is sticking around or heading back out on loan.
"It's all about getting ready for a strong pre-season and doing whatever I can," he told the Second Tier podcast.
"I'm going to go in with the mentality: 'I need to be one of the best players here if I've got a chance of getting a lot of game-time,' and then we'll assess as pre-season goes if the pathway is going to be good. Then we'll go from there, and whether it's another loan.
"I genuinely see myself playing at Leicester because I do believe in my ability, and that's what you need otherwise you're never going to play at the top level."
The Harvey Barnes team talk Brendan Rodgers can deliver again with 'match-winner' to return
What Patson Daka signing means for Leicester City, Jamie Vardy, Harvey Barnes, winger transfer
Although the spell at Luton was Dewsbury-Hall's first full campaign at senior level, he excelled, winning the club's players' player of the season and ranking among the best forward-thinking midfielders in the Championship.
There is plenty of competition in the centre of the park at the King Power Stadium, with Youri Tielemans, Dennis Praet, Wilfred Ndidi, Papy Mendy, and Hamza Choudhury currently on the books, and with Lille's Boubakary Soumare set to arrive.
Rodgers has said previously that he is looking to redress the balance of his midfield and make it more progressive and less defence, which could help Dewsbury-Hall.
His status as a club-trained player could also be a benefit when it comes to the Europa League, as he would fill one of the four places reserved for players from City's own academy. If City don't fill that spot, they will have to reduce the overall number of registered players in the squad, which saw Wes Morgan miss out last term.
"There's definitely an opportunity for more games," he said.
"I wanted to do this season (on loan) and get experience with the plan of going back to Leicester and pushing for a place.
"If I didn't believe I could do that, I shouldn't be at Leicester. I genuinely believe I can go back and push for a place now.
"And with more games (because of Europe) that might mean I get more opportunities to do what I need to do."