Ferdinand: Dickov's ready to roll
Les Ferdinand is confident his Leicester strike partner Paul Dickov will be in the right frame of mind when he launches his Barclaycard Premiership comeback after the La Manga affair in Saturday’s home clash with Everton.
Dickov, who has netted 10 times this season, has been pencilled in by City manager Micky Adams to make a return to senior action against David Moyes’ side.
The Scotland international plus Frank Sinclair and Keith Gillespie are currently on bail after being charged with sexual aggression following allegations by three women during the club training camp in Spain.
Dickov is the only player in with a serious chance of figuring in the starting line-up with Sinclair and Gillespie having been peripheral figures in the Foxes’ fight against relegation.
Ferdinand told Radio 5 Live: “Paul has been back, has been sharp and he has been eager to get out there and put all this behind him.
“Sometimes the only place to do that is out on the football field and he’s been very happy to be back and out there training and playing again along with the other two boys as well.
“I think Paul will be up for the challenge on Saturday without a shadow of a doubt – probably even more so than he normally would be. He has been a great asset to us this season.
“He has probably got a lot of pent up frustration inside of him and wants to get that out – and the best place to get that out is on the football pitch.
“He has been very important to us – along with the other two boys as well although they probably haven’t featured as much as Paul this season.”
Ferdinand has sympathy for the traumatic time the Leicester trio have gone through in the past two weeks with all of the charged players strongly protesting their innocence.
And the former England and Tottenham star also stressed the importance of learning from such episodes after being in the public spotlight himself in the past on occasions.
He said: “We are respectful. I suppose all the lads at different times have had their little chats about them and I’ve said to them I can’t imagine what they have gone through.
“They’ve still got the court case to go in front of them but they are pretty confident they will be found innocent.
“Then they can get on with their careers and their lives because obviously it doesn’t just affect them.
“It affects their families and all the people around them and it is important those people can get their lives back on track as quickly as possible as well.”
Ferdinand added: “In the papers I’ve been made out to be a saint. I’m certainly no saint and I’ve had a few things written about me in the past.
“It’s important you learn from these mistakes – if they are mistakes in your life. I went out with girls that were seen to be public knowledge.
“I don’t know if they were mistakes but the things that happen in your life, no matter what they are, you look at them and analyse them and try to make sure those things don’t happen again.”
But Ferdinand believes there is no need for football clubs in general to call a halt to mid-season or pre-season trips abroad.
He said: “People say is it a time to stop all these trips to La Manga. I’ve been on similar trips on many occasions and none of this stuff has happened before.
“I’ve seen players go out, have a few drinks and the whole point of La Manga was team bonding and in the British game part of team bonding is going out and having a few drinks together.
“Okay, we’ve got some allegations because of that this time but I don’t think it is a thing that needs to stop.
“As long as footballers adhere to the right rules and regulations and conduct themselves in the right way, it is not a problem.”
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