Craig Shakespeare has declared himself proud of his players after Leicester City finished as runners-up in the Premier League Asia Trophy.
The Foxes took the lead against fellow finalists Liverpool through Islam Slimani in Hong Kong, but Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho saw the Reds claim a 2-1 win and the silverware.
Having travelled nearly 6,000 miles to compete in the tournament, Shakespeare has praised his side for adapting to the conditions in the Far East and is hoping to push on once back in England.
"In the second game of pre-season, it is more about the fitness of the players and getting the players some minutes on the pitch," he told Sky Sports News following the game.
"I thought the first-half performance was very good from both teams. It was dominated by offensive players but once we made the changes, you could see that we contained Liverpool in the second half without being too adventurous but I thought we made some really good chances.
"Overall, I'm very pleased and I'm proud of the players in terms of their application. It's our first trip to Asia and we've gone on this in between time, not Hong Kong time but more like UK time, and we've adapted to it really well.
"It's important now that we improve the fitness levels of the players. Physically and technically, I'm sure we'll get better as we go along. Early doors, you feel a bit rusty but the quality of the opposition out here proves that your concentration levels have to be spot on.
"We'll reassess now. We've got a long flight back to the UK and we'll give them a bit of recovery time, not long though because we're down in Luton on Wednesday. Hopefully, as we go along, in each game, we'll get that improvement."
Following the Luton game at Kenilworth Road, Leicester will face MK Dons, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burton Albion and Borussia Monchengladbach ahead of the new season.
Giuseppe Labellarte
