As he prepares to make his official Leicester City debut, Tom Cannon has been observing and learning from Jamie Vardy.
The striker, who joined from Everton in the last transfer window, played the final half hour of Saturday’s 4-0 triumph over Plymouth Argyle, his first appearance since a back ailment disrupted his multimillion-pound move from Goodison Park.
The 20-year-old is seen as a key player for the future at the King Power Stadium, but following his initial setback, he is eager to contribute in the present, if not tonight against Millwall, then throughout the busy Christmas season.
In an interview with the BBC’s When You’re Smiling podcast, the Liverpudlian voiced his unhappiness with his early fitness issues – as well as his love for a man who has scored more than 170 goals for the Foxes and who he now considers a teammate.
“After two months out injured, it was a tough, tough start, but now to be fully be out on the pitch with the lads and feel fully involved, it’s a great feeling, just hoping for more,” Cannon told the club’s website.
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“Coming in on deadline day was exciting, but then I got the news, which was a bit gutting to be honest.” But then I just kept going, kept my head down, performed the rehab, did what needed to be done, and being back playing was a terrific experience.
“I like to think I contribute to the team’s goals.” I’m always seeking to get on the last guy, but I also want to come to my feet because that’s the style of this club; the coach wants the striker to drop so you can get on it and link the play, and I’ll simply be putting both in my game.”
When asked about earlier parallels to Vardy, he responded, “His movement, coaches in the past, papers and whatnot, they’ve all said similar play styles.” Now that he’s here, I’m constantly studying him, learning and seeing how he trains, seeing what he does fresh, seeing what I can incorporate into my game, and then just taking it from there.
“From watching clips when he was smashing in the goals 6-7 years ago, he’s obviously continued to do that, but when he was at his peak, it was the perfect player for me to watch and learn off because of the fact that we’ve been linked as similar players, I can only learn off him.”
