http://www.lcfc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10274~2301645,00.html
Aleksander Tunchev made his long-awaited return to action on Thursday, as City's reserves beat San Jose Earthquakes in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Belvoir Drive.
The Bulgarian defender, who has been out of the first team picture for 17 months following knee surgery, played over an hour against the MLS outfit, coming through the workout unscathed as the Foxes chalked up a 3-1 success.
Miguel Vitor, Bruno Berner and Moreno were among the other established professionals to pick up valuable match minutes, against a Quakes side currently in their fourth week of pre-season training, ahead of their MLS opener against Real Salt Lake on March 19.
Having already beaten sides from Colchester United and Birmingham City on their current tour of the UK, the Americans quickly discovered that the Foxes would not be an easy obstacle to overcome as goals from Elliott Chamberlain and Nathan Hicks put the hosts firmly in control.
A defensive mix-up between Vitor and goalkeeper Robert Ambrusics allowed Chris Wondolowski to pull a goal back for the Quakes, but Danny Uchechi quickly re-established the two-goal cushion from the penalty spot after Vitor had been bundled over in the penalty area.
Ambrusics made up for his part in the earlier error with a late penalty save to avoid a Quakes rally and first team coach Didi Hamann said afterwards that he was pleased with the efforts of all those involved.
"It was a good workout against a good team, their season doesn't start until March 19 but they've had some good results since they've been in England," Didi said. "It was a good test for our boys, they passed the ball well, took the game to them and everything was there.
"Any team that plays at a good level is welcome here because we want our boys to have a good test. If they stand up these boys, there's every chance they can play for our first team and, for the first and second year pros, it's a great opportunity to impress."
Tunchev's return will have been a pleasing sight for Sven-Goran Eriksson and his staff. But while encouraged by the Bulgarian's hour-long display, Hamann says his comeback must be carefully planned in the coming months.
He said: "We spoke to him (Tunchev) before and we knew we'd have to see how it goes, but he did ever so well. He played about 65 minutes and played a very good game.
"He probably won't train for a day or two now, but that's all part of the process. It's important he plays games now, but we've got to take it day by day with him."
City: Ambrusics, Vitor, Tunchev (Paratore 65), Parkes, Berner (Brown 85), Hicks, Milnes, Moreno, Uchechi, Crncic (King 70), Chamberlain.
Aleksander Tunchev made his long-awaited return to action on Thursday, as City's reserves beat San Jose Earthquakes in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Belvoir Drive.
The Bulgarian defender, who has been out of the first team picture for 17 months following knee surgery, played over an hour against the MLS outfit, coming through the workout unscathed as the Foxes chalked up a 3-1 success.
Miguel Vitor, Bruno Berner and Moreno were among the other established professionals to pick up valuable match minutes, against a Quakes side currently in their fourth week of pre-season training, ahead of their MLS opener against Real Salt Lake on March 19.
Having already beaten sides from Colchester United and Birmingham City on their current tour of the UK, the Americans quickly discovered that the Foxes would not be an easy obstacle to overcome as goals from Elliott Chamberlain and Nathan Hicks put the hosts firmly in control.
A defensive mix-up between Vitor and goalkeeper Robert Ambrusics allowed Chris Wondolowski to pull a goal back for the Quakes, but Danny Uchechi quickly re-established the two-goal cushion from the penalty spot after Vitor had been bundled over in the penalty area.
Ambrusics made up for his part in the earlier error with a late penalty save to avoid a Quakes rally and first team coach Didi Hamann said afterwards that he was pleased with the efforts of all those involved.
"It was a good workout against a good team, their season doesn't start until March 19 but they've had some good results since they've been in England," Didi said. "It was a good test for our boys, they passed the ball well, took the game to them and everything was there.
"Any team that plays at a good level is welcome here because we want our boys to have a good test. If they stand up these boys, there's every chance they can play for our first team and, for the first and second year pros, it's a great opportunity to impress."
Tunchev's return will have been a pleasing sight for Sven-Goran Eriksson and his staff. But while encouraged by the Bulgarian's hour-long display, Hamann says his comeback must be carefully planned in the coming months.
He said: "We spoke to him (Tunchev) before and we knew we'd have to see how it goes, but he did ever so well. He played about 65 minutes and played a very good game.
"He probably won't train for a day or two now, but that's all part of the process. It's important he plays games now, but we've got to take it day by day with him."
City: Ambrusics, Vitor, Tunchev (Paratore 65), Parkes, Berner (Brown 85), Hicks, Milnes, Moreno, Uchechi, Crncic (King 70), Chamberlain.
