Fleetwood dominated but Leicester lacked class says Barton

Fleetwood Town boss Joey Barton accused Leicester City's Under-21s of 'lacking class' after their CheckatradeTrophy draw at Highbury last night.
Chris Long scores Fleetwood's first goal against Leicester  U21sChris Long scores Fleetwood's first goal against Leicester  U21s
Chris Long scores Fleetwood's first goal against Leicester U21s
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MATCH REPORT: Fleetwood Town 2-2 Leicester U21s (Leicester win on pens)

Barton’s men had raced into a deserved 2-0 lead courtesy of Chris Long and Conor McAleny, but they ended up settling for one point after Cian Bolger was sent off.

A Leicester side including Danny Simpson took home an extra bonus point for winning the penalty shootout 7-6.

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Barton was angry at the way some of Leicester’s young players conducted themselves during and after the game.

“It’s disappointing but it’s still a draw,” he said. “Our lads are disappointed because we absolutely battered them. I know we made 10 changes but we told the lads there were opportunities to push hard for the first team. I thought to a man they were excellent.

“We almost saw through the job, and until the sending-off we were dominant and probably should add a couple more.

“They’ve had a £20m signing on the pitch and a Premier League winner in Danny Simpson.

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“But anyone who was here would have seen the difference in class. I’d be very surprised if any of their boys end up playing for the senior team, whereas we’ve got lots of young lads playing for ours.

“The conduct of some of them is a bit suspect, talking to our players about how much they’re earning and stuff like that. It lacks a bit of class. In that respect, I think this is a worthwhile experience for them because they’ve just been outplayed by a team two divisions below.

“They got very lucky with the penalty shootout. I was disappointed we didn’t win it because we were better in every single department for 75 to 80 minutes of the game.”