Leicester City: 22-year-old has played an underrated role in promotion quest - View | OneFootball

Leicester City are now just one win away from securing promotion to the Premier League.

It hasn’t been smooth sailing in the second half of the season for the Foxes, but a 5-0 win over promotion rivals Southampton has significantly boosted their top two hopes.

The Saints represented a tricky opponent, especially as Russell Martin’s side still had hopes of closing the gap between the two teams prior to kick-off.

But an excellent display, perhaps their best of the season, put the Hampshire outfit to the sword and saw them take a huge step towards a top flight return.

Enzo Maresca’s side took a half-time lead of just 1-0 through Abdul Fatawu, but really turned on the style in the second half with two further strikes from the forward, as well as Wilfred Ndidi and Jamie Vardy.

Leicester’s bright start to the season paying off

Despite a tumultuous second half of the campaign, Leicester now look set to clinch one of the two automatic promotion places.

This is in large part thanks to their remarkable first half of the season, in which the Leicestershire outfit earned 58 points from their opening 23, dropping just 11 points in total.

The gap to third place Leeds United on Christmas day was 13 points, a cushion that they let slip through 2024.

Maresca’s aggressive, attacking style of play was an instant hit at the King Power Stadium, as they earned impressively consistent results while winning over supporters with ease.

At one point it seemed inevitable that the club would smash Reading’s record points total of 106, set in 2006, but they are now set to fall short.

One man that cannot be forgotten during this period is Kasey McAteer.

The winger hasn’t featured as much as some of the most important figures in the side, but his contribution has been as important as some of the more consistent starters.

The 22-year-old has played just 21 times in the Championship so far this term, including only 12 starts (all stats from Fbref).

However, he has contributed five goals to the team’s promotion efforts, which puts him sixth highest in the squad for this season.

His performances stood out during the early stages of Maresca’s tenure, with a brace against Rotherham United standing out as his key game.

Without those two goals, that likely would’ve ended the team’s unbeaten start to the term, as the Foxes narrowly escaped their trip to the Millers with just a 2-1 victory.

He also added important goals against Southampton, Norwich City and Stoke City, with all of his contributions coming in big wins.

McAteer’s goals helped seal 12 important points, including in wins over promotion rivals like Southampton.

The forward’s 25th minute strike away at St. Mary’s gave the team a 2-0 lead, which was cut back to 2-1 through Samuel Edozie, before Leicester ultimately ended the game 4-1 victors.

Defensively, he also proved his worth as a hard-working wide-man, getting involved with 1.93 tackles per game, among the 84th percentile for players in his position at this level.

McAteer also contributed 1.26 clearances and won 1.34 aerials per 90, showing he was a good tactical fit for Maresca’s new style of play.

While he’s fallen down the pecking order in 2024, he could still prove a very useful player in the top flight if they get over the promotion line in their last two games.