Players’ behaviour at Christmas party was ‘not acceptable’ but ‘we’ve moved on’ says Leicester boss

It has been an eventful week at the club. After Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Chelsea, Steve Cooper was then sacked on Sunday with Dawson stepping in as caretaker. On the day of that defeat, it’s understood the Foxes’ players travelled to the Danish capital for a Christmas party.

Footage emerged on social media of members of the squad dancing in a Copenhagen club near a sign reading “Enzo I miss you” - an unfortunately timed reference to their former boss Enzo Maresca, whose Chelsea side had beaten them just hours before. Harry Winks and Conor Coady appeared to be shown in the footage, while Danish outlet Ekstra Bladet reported that Jannik Vestergaard and Victor Kristiansen were also present.

Leicester’s owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabh reportedly criticised the players when they returned from their trip, and Dawson confirmed today that the squad were spoken to about their conduct.

He said: “They've had the key message from the club that what's gone on was not acceptable and we need to move on.

“The lads had a couple of days off and it's their decision what they do with their time off. The issues mentioned, the club have dealt with [it] pretty quickly early in the week and everybody's moved on. The lads have been really professional, worked well and we're looking forward to the game.”

Ruud van Nistelrooy is being tipped to take over from Cooper on a permanent basis following his recent successful spell in interim charge of Manchester United. That included 5-2 and 3-0 wins over the Foxes.

Dawson was tight-lipped over the rumours about the Dutchman coming in, adding: “We probably know as much as you [reporters] do at the moment. We're just focusing on the game.”

Leicester travel to Brentford, who are unbeaten at home this season, for kickoff at 3pm on Saturday.