Smith backs Ndidi to return to his best

Leicester City interim manager Dean Smith has defended his player, Wilfred Ndidi, after a recent error by the Nigerian in their previous few games.

The 26-year-old assisted Villa’s victory at home with an errant pass before giving away a penalty at Manchester City on Saturday. Additionally, the Nigerian missed a duel with Kevin De Bruyne, who eventually set up Erling Haaland’s third goal.

The former Norwich City manager, who just succeeded Brendan Rodgers, has backed Ndidi, despite his detractors, indicating that he is a quality player.

Ndidi hasn’t been able to disrupt play as often as he typically does, and in the last two games, he hasn’t made a single tackle. Nevertheless, his injury is to blame for his difficult season.

Following this, his Smith wants him to be the player he was for Leicester City, when his current manager was with Aston Villa during the 2018–2021 campaign.

“Wilf’s a top player,” he said. “He’s another player who I’ve seen a lot over the years and has probably been a bit of a thorn in my side when I’ve played against him.

“I looked back at the third goal and whether he can win the ball I’m not sure, but we both agreed when we spoke about it that he shouldn’t let De Bruyne get the other side of him.

“But there’s a number of things that happened with that. The pass back could have gone forward. We should have made contact with Haaland before he made the run. So there were a number of things that could have helped to stop that goal. I thought he was unfortunate with the handball incident.

“But I like Wilf, I think he’s a really good player. He’s one that protects, and people sometimes miss the fact he defends our box really well aerially and physically. He can be a threat in the opposition box as well. There are many aspects to his game that can help us.” he said, as cited by Leicestermercury.