This is Leicestershire -- "It is a long way until you are an established first-team player. I have been lucky to play so far but I won't be happy until I have made 35-40 appearances this season. Then maybe I can feel like I am starting to find my way into this team." Those words are the typically grounded approach of young Leicester City defender Liam Moore, whose emergence within the side has been one of the biggest pluses this season. Having joined the club he has supported all his life at the tender age of seven, Moore has worked his way through the ranks and has been a key part of City's impressive start to the campaign. Despite featuring in all of City's 15 Championship games to date, Moore has remained typically grounded and humble, and knows he still has a lot of work ahead of him. The 20-year-old, from Loughborough, has displayed great maturity so far, but the overwhelming characteristic that he projects is determination. Moore appears completely focused on becoming a key player for City, getting them into the Premier League and fulfilling his own personal ambitions. Experience It has been an amazing couple of years for Moore, in which he has reached so many milestones. Two years ago, he was gaining vital experience on loan at Bradford before the return of manager Nigel Pearson to City was quickly followed by his first-team debut at Crystal Palace in January 2012. Moore had to wait three months before his next City appearance, on the final day of the season at Leeds. However, he made further progress the following campaign with 17 appearances for City, and was rewarded with his first England Under-21 cap against Northern Ireland just over a year ago. Moore has stepped up another level this season and not only was he awarded the Football League young player of the month award for September, he scored his first senior goal and was recalled to the England Under-21 squad last week. However, Moore missed out on a cap last week when Gareth Southgate's men convincingly beat Finland at MK Dons. Moore can feel a little unlucky not to have been involved in that game, but it demonstrates the next hurdle he must reach – the Premier League. The back four last Thursday was made up entirely of players from Premier League clubs. In fact, of that starting 11, only Jack Butland, on loan at Barnsley from Stoke, and Nathaniel Chalobah, who is on loan at Nottingham Forest from Chelsea, have played in the Championship this season. On the bench were Danny Ings, who is scoring for fun at Burnley this season; Tom Ince, an ever-present in the Blackpool side; his team-mate Jack Robinson, on loan from Liverpool; Jesse Lingard, who has made a huge impact at Birmingham on loan from Manchester United; Will Hughes, playing regularly and impressing at Derby; and Sheffield United keeper George Long. The other sub was Eric Dier, who is featuring regularly for Sporting Lisbon. It would appear if you are with a Premier League club, regardless of whether you are playing regularly, you have a big advantage when it comes to selection. The central-defensive paring was Manchester United's Michael Keane, who enjoyed a good loan spell at City last season, and Everton's John Stones. Stones has made just four first-team appearances this season and Keane is yet to feature at all in the United first team. It is Southgate's prerogative who he picks for the England side, of course, but I would have thought players who are regularly involved in competitive first-team games are better equipped than those playing just development squad football. Keane is a great prospect, a graceful, intelligent, ball-playing central defender, but for me Moore is a better all-round defender, a faster, stronger athlete. Whether Moore was given his second cap last night against San Marino was not known at the time of going to press, but if he didn't, it should only fuel him even further and drive him on. He only has to look at the experiences of Under-21 team-mates Luke Shaw and James Ward-Prowse, and at full international level Ricky Lambert, Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana. All five have seen their international opportunities flourish after the Southampton reached the Premier League. That has to be Moore's motivation for the rest of this season.
Reported by This is 4 hours ago.
This is Leicestershire -- "It is a long way until you are an established first-team player. I have been lucky to play so far but I won't be happy until I have made 35-40 appearances this season. Then maybe I can feel like I am starting to find my way into this team." Those words are the typically grounded approach of young Leicester City defender Liam Moore, whose emergence within the side has been one of the biggest pluses this season. Having joined the club he has supported all his life at the tender age of seven, Moore has worked his way through the ranks and has been a key part of City's impressive start to the campaign. Despite featuring in all of City's 15 Championship games to date, Moore has remained typically grounded and humble, and knows he still has a lot of work ahead of him. The 20-year-old, from Loughborough, has displayed great maturity so far, but the overwhelming characteristic that he projects is determination. Moore appears completely focused on becoming a key player for City, getting them into the Premier League and fulfilling his own personal ambitions. Experience It has been an amazing couple of years for Moore, in which he has reached so many milestones. Two years ago, he was gaining vital experience on loan at Bradford before the return of manager Nigel Pearson to City was quickly followed by his first-team debut at Crystal Palace in January 2012. Moore had to wait three months before his next City appearance, on the final day of the season at Leeds. However, he made further progress the following campaign with 17 appearances for City, and was rewarded with his first England Under-21 cap against Northern Ireland just over a year ago. Moore has stepped up another level this season and not only was he awarded the Football League young player of the month award for September, he scored his first senior goal and was recalled to the England Under-21 squad last week. However, Moore missed out on a cap last week when Gareth Southgate's men convincingly beat Finland at MK Dons. Moore can feel a little unlucky not to have been involved in that game, but it demonstrates the next hurdle he must reach – the Premier League. The back four last Thursday was made up entirely of players from Premier League clubs. In fact, of that starting 11, only Jack Butland, on loan at Barnsley from Stoke, and Nathaniel Chalobah, who is on loan at Nottingham Forest from Chelsea, have played in the Championship this season. On the bench were Danny Ings, who is scoring for fun at Burnley this season; Tom Ince, an ever-present in the Blackpool side; his team-mate Jack Robinson, on loan from Liverpool; Jesse Lingard, who has made a huge impact at Birmingham on loan from Manchester United; Will Hughes, playing regularly and impressing at Derby; and Sheffield United keeper George Long. The other sub was Eric Dier, who is featuring regularly for Sporting Lisbon. It would appear if you are with a Premier League club, regardless of whether you are playing regularly, you have a big advantage when it comes to selection. The central-defensive paring was Manchester United's Michael Keane, who enjoyed a good loan spell at City last season, and Everton's John Stones. Stones has made just four first-team appearances this season and Keane is yet to feature at all in the United first team. It is Southgate's prerogative who he picks for the England side, of course, but I would have thought players who are regularly involved in competitive first-team games are better equipped than those playing just development squad football. Keane is a great prospect, a graceful, intelligent, ball-playing central defender, but for me Moore is a better all-round defender, a faster, stronger athlete. Whether Moore was given his second cap last night against San Marino was not known at the time of going to press, but if he didn't, it should only fuel him even further and drive him on. He only has to look at the experiences of Under-21 team-mates Luke Shaw and James Ward-Prowse, and at full international level Ricky Lambert, Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana. All five have seen their international opportunities flourish after the Southampton reached the Premier League. That has to be Moore's motivation for the rest of this season.
Reported by This is 4 hours ago.