Tottenham vs Leicester pre-season friendly called off as torrential rain hits Bangkok

Tottenham vs Leicester pre-season friendly called off as torrential rain hits Bangkok

Tottenham and Leicester have had their pre-season friendly called off due to torrential rain that made the pitch unplayable.

Fans had already started to gather at the Rajamangala Stadium in Thailand to watch the Premier League and Championship sides in action.

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The Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok saw torrential rain hit minutes before kick-offCredit: Getty

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It made the conditions unplayable as the ball could not run across the surfaceCredit: Rex

But just minutes away from kick-off, the heavens opened above and a heavy downpour engulfed the venue.

While players from both sides trained on the pitch, everyone was immediately soaked and large puddles gathered on the turf.

The ball could not move and Leicester pair Marc Albrighton and Harry Winks, due to play his old side, demonstrated the conditions to the refereer.

They were seen scooping up the water and waving their hands, indicating that the game could not go ahead.

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou made his own inspection of the pitch while officials were seen in deep discussions with still just minutes before kick-off.

The game set to go ahead at 11:00am (BST) but that time went and gone as a decision was delayed.

But nearly 40 minutes after the game was set to start the decision was made to cancel the match.

It will be a disappointment to Australian coach Postecoglou, who lost his first game in charge in a 3-2 defeat to West Ham last week.

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Tottenham and Leicester were set to play at 11:00Credit: Getty

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The match was just minutes away from kick-offCredit: Getty

He is keen to implement his ideas fast ahead of the new Premier League season while he named a strong side to face Leicester on Sunday.

Harry Kane spearheaded an attack including Dejan Kulusevski and Heung-min Son while James Maddison was set to start against his old club.

The Tottenham boss said: “The other night (against West Ham) was for us a good start in terms of at least the players know in terms what it feels like and some of the things we’ve been working on, they really tried hard to implement.

“It’s still very early stages. [On Sunday] with the weather here it’ll be a challenge for us to play at high intensity.

“I’ve been here with Australian teams, and we found it very difficult and I’m sure it will be. 

“At the same time, that’s how we want to play.

“The players have been really receptive to this so hopefully from [Sunday] we’ll see improvement and progress from the first game.”

As for Leicester, there have been big changes at the King Power Stadium after their relegation to the Championship.

Enzo Maresca has left Manchester City’s coaching staff to manage the Foxes and Maddison has led a number of departures at the club.

As well as the England international, Youri Tielemans, Harvey Barnes and Caglar Soyuncu are just a handful of big names to leave.

Winks has been brought in from Spurs and was set to start against his old club on Sunday.

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