Demarai Gray praises new Leicester manager Claude Puel's bravery as he closes in on contract extension

The 21-year-old put in a man-of-the-match display on Sunday against Everton

Gray put in a man-of-the-match performance (Getty)

Demarai Gray has revealed he was waiting to find out the identity of Leicester City’s new manager before pushing ahead with a new contract.

Former Southampton manager Claude Puel was named as Craig Shakespeare’s replacement last week and picked up a win in his first game against Everton on Sunday, with Gray being handed only his seventh start since arriving in January 2016.

The 21-year-old scored and played a huge part in setting up Jamie Vardy’s opener after a length-of-the-pitch run turning defence into attack and looks set to finally get a run in the first team under Puel, who put his faith in youth by also starting Ben Chillwell.

“Yeah, we obviously wanted to see who the new manager was and stuff, a bit of stability, but I’m happy playing football here and let my representatives deal with that side of it and when they give me the phone call we’ll get it sorted,” he said.

“All I can do is what I’ve done [on Sunday] and when it comes to getting sorted out we’ll get to it. Everyone is communicating so I think it eventually should be sorted.”

While the appointment of Puel, who was sacked from Saints despite a seventh-place finish last season, has underwhelming in many circles, Gray seems impressed at the Frenchman’s willingness to put faith in youth.

“Yeah, it’s good,” Gray added. “We have a good team and a lot of depth. It’s good for me and Ben [Chillwell] there’s faith in the younger players. It’s good to have that type of manager behind us. I’m feeling good.”