Leicester City

Leicester City boss Russell Martin was both "frustrated" and encouraged by Tuesday's 2-1 EFL Trophy defeat at Stevenage which leaves them second in their group.

Martin made a number of changes to the side that thumped Fulham's Under-21 side 6-1 in the opening group game in the competition last month.

Harry Souttar, who captained Australia in two friendly fixtures against Brazil during the international break, was ushered straight into the Foxes starting side for a cup tie in which 18-year-old midfielder Riley Carr made his senior debut for the club and Tommy Neal earned his first start for Leicester.

Goals from Wanya Marcal and Oliver Sanderson either side of the break put Stevenage in control before Emil Riis pulled a goal back for Martin's side.

"It's frustrating, but also the way we played was really positive," Martin told BBC Radio Leicester.

"For a team that hasn't played much together, a couple of debuts for Tommy Neal and Riley who did great, and some guys back - Christian [McFarlane] and Souttar - from international duty who haven't been here and it's some really important minutes for a lot of players on the pitch.

"But I wanted to win, we wanted to win. We will be frustrated about that but if we sort that out in both boxes, we are so close to being a really brilliant team because it was so dominant.

"We created so many chances and we should be more clinical, and we have to defend the set plays like they did, because they defended set piece with their lives and that's the difference."

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Leicester City's style of play under boss Russell Martin will bring long-term results according to winger Tommy Watson.

The on-loan Brighton forward scored his first goals for the Foxes as he netted a brace in Tuesday's 6-1 win over Fulham under-21s in the EFL Trophy, now called the Jersey Mike's Trophy.

"There're so many positives to take. Although it hasn't been going my way in the final third, when I'm playing it's probably the most I've enjoyed my football in this style of play," Watson told BBC Radio Leicester.

"Ask any forward and this is the style you want to play as a team, although some of the fans and outside noise have been frustrated I think once it clicks it's going to be a joy to watch and a joy to play in."

Watson joined Leicester on a season-long loan in August but has started only one League One match along with six substitute appearances.

The Foxes have made a faltering start to the campaign after relegation from the Championship last season and were held 1-1 at 10-man Barnsley on Saturday.

"There was a little bit of frustration for me coming into the game, especially after the weekend," the 20-year-old said.

"As attackers we have to put it on ourselves as we had 70 minutes to win the game on Saturday and we didn't, so we wanted to be ruthless and we showed signs of it but there's so much more to come.

"The two goals are really important for my head space but the biggest positive will be what I got out of it physically - I had a bit of a knock on the second goal so I checked it at half-time but made sure I got out to finish the 90 minutes."

Because of the international break, Leicester's next league match is not until 10 October when they host Peterborough United.

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Sutton United have signed defender Bobby Amartey and wing-back Ben Brookes on short-term loan deals.

Amartey joins from Leicester City until the end of November.

The 20-year-old academy player joined the Foxes at under-13 level and made his debut for both the U18s and U21s when he was 16.

The Ghana youth international played three matches for Leicester's U21s in the Football League Trophy in 2023-2024, earning a first professional contract.

Brookes signs from York City until mid-December after being left unregistered from Scott Lindsey's squad for the current League Two campaign.

The 25-year-old moved to York from Maidstone in 2025 and played 35 league games last season.

Sutton United have made a solid start to their latest National League campaign, winning four of their opening six matches to sit fifth in the table with 12 points.

This week they also added 20-year-old former Brighton & Hove Albion academy midfielder Joe Knight on a three-month loan deal from League One club Stevenage.

The U's host Scunthorpe United in the league on Saturday (15:00 BST).

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Leicester manager Russell Martin will have a hard time winning over the fans with his brand of football in England's third tier, says former Foxes defender Matt Heath.

The high possession approach, which Heath's former Leicester team-mate Matt Piper described as "passing teams to death", has been widely criticised after Leicester were beaten 4-0 by Oxford United at home on Saturday.

The defeat left the Foxes 18th in the League One table, which is the lowest position the club has been in the English football pyramid in its 142-year history.

Heath says he has been "surprised and underwhelmed" by the poor start Leicester have made after the club suffered back-to-back relegations from the Premier League and Championship.

While Foxes defender Jayden Joseph has come out to say that he and his team-mates believe in the style of football Martin has them playing, Heath has questioned how effective it will be in League One.

"I know the modern-day footballer does like to have high possession, and when completed correctly it has a real good dominance on the game. And you just have to look at the top teams in the top leagues across Europe and across the world to see this style of football does work," Heath told BBC East Midlands Today.

"But the big caveat is that Leicester is a team in League One that have players that are League One standard.

"It is a high risk and high reward style. When playing out from the goalkeeper to the centre-halves in the penalty box, the risks are there to be seen.

"So, on the occasions that it doesn't work it really does look bad.

"And to try to win the fans over, who are very disgruntled with the seasons they've previously had with two relegations, and play such a high risk style of play is probably not a good recipe really."