Vardy believes Champions League spot possible for Leicester

The high-flying Foxes visit north London on Sunday in the third round of the FA Cup and then return on Wednesday night for a Premier League showdown.

“It is hard to play Tottenham because they have fantastic players”.

Should Spurs fall to the same opponents this time around it would not be greeted with ridicule, given how Leicester have reinvented themselves this season.

Like Spurs the Foxes have been enjoying an exceptional year, winning 12, drawing nine and losing just two of their fixtures across the league and Capital One Cup this year.

Having scored 15 goals in his first 16 league games this season, Vardy is now without a goal in his last four matches (392 minutes).

Louis Van Gaal insisted last month that he did not like competition for places, preferring instead to trust his first-team players.

Claudio Ranieri will look to get his side a good cup run to compliment their amazin league run.

Jamie Vardy will not be rushed back by Leicester City after undergoing a minor groin operation. “As a group we were good and on another day I feel we would have got all three points”. In addition, Leciester will be without Matty James and Jeffrey Schlupp, who are still recovering from injury.

“I said to my physio I don’t want to lose him for a long time”.

Claudio Ranieri said his side are going there to win, the same as every other game they play.

Ryan Mason and Mousa Dembele will both miss the match with ankle injuries while Clinton Njie is out with a knee problem. It’s like the League Cup, when we put the other players [in].

However, Spurs are playing some good football at the moment and Mauricio Pochettino has led the side to three victories and a draw in their last four outings. It’s a good opportunity for some players that haven’t played regularly in the Premier League to show their quality and fight for their place.

“We have a strong squad but we have come off a very busy period of Christmas”.

The ex-Chelsea boss, 64, said: “We don’t need to sell because we don’t need the money”.

Pochettino is likely to make major changes for the FA Cup clash, with the midweek game taking priority, so the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli could be rested.

There will also be a concern that as this has happened once it could happen again, particularly given the nature of Vardy’s play, which is furthered by his statistically calculated WhoScored strength of “defensive contribution”.