Leicester City news: Claudio Ranieri admits Foxes are in relegation battle despite their 4-2 triumph over Manchester City
CLAUDIO RANIERI has admitted his Leicester side are in a relegation battle despite their 4-2 triumph over Manchester City – but believes he has the “warriors” he needs in his squad.
The Foxes looked like the barnstorming side of last season who won the Premier League in the most unlikely of fashions as they swept aside a woeful City at the King Power Stadium.
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It halts a run of five Premier League games without a win which saw them drop towards the trap door as Champions League football proved a distraction.
But despite a two month break until the knockout stages, Italian Ranieri still believes his side are in danger – but was delighted with the way they fought.
He told BT Sport: “It was important to keep it going until Christmas, as we are in the relegation battle. For this battle I need warriors, and they showed me what I wanted to see.
“When everything goes well everyone is happy, but when you lose and in relegation battle, people ask why they don’t play and it’s not so good in the dressing room.
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“But my players understand my philosophy and I hope now we can go back to the same level as last season.”
Jamie Vardy scored a hat-trick and Andy King netted a beauty, while last season’s magician Riyad Mahrez showed glimpses of his old form, something which Ranieri welcomed with open armsas they moved four points above the drop zone into 14th position.
He added: “Big champions react at the right moment, so when Vardy and Mahrez play well, we often win.
“Today they were fantastic for the team, which is what I love. We aren’t a big team but we can do something good when we play together and we are strong.
“The performance came because we played so badly, not as a team in the past few matches, so my team wanted to come back today.
“We were concentrating so much today, we wanted to react today against big teams after the poor Porto results.
“It was very important to get three points today, and important to score early and get the guys’ confidence more – but only until tomorrow morning.
“We can’t win all the matches, but we can fight. I want the character of the English people with Italian tactics, it was great blend last season and this season not so good – not everything is perfect, but we can just try and defend the title.”