Leicester success ‘refreshing’ for modern game: Martinez

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri says that he will not think about his side’s Premier League title chances until April, despite being top of the league at Christmas.

Top scorer Romelu Lukaku netted for the seventh game in a row in all competitions in East Anglia, but will have been frustrated with his inability to add to his tally.

With Leicester City striding to victory over an in-form Everton side on Saturday evening, there have been calls suggesting that the Foxes could be genuine title contenders.

Foxes vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha told Ranieri during the interview process that the ownership were committed to taking Leicester to the top of the league, but were also realistic about the possible outcomes if things didn’t go their way.

Far from fading after a flying start, Leicester appear to be getting stronger, with their key duo of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez both scoring in Monday’s 2-1 win against Chelsea that ultimately cost Jose Mourinho his job.

Although Jamie Vardy might be taking all the plaudits for his goalscoring exploits in the Premier League this season, it’s easy to forget there’s another clinical forward in town.

Two of the Premier League’s most exciting attacks came head-to-head in a rain-soaked affair and, true to expectation, they served up five goals, albeit with two coming from the penalty spot thanks to rash challenges by Ramiro Funes Mori and Tim Howard.

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Whether or not the Italian can inspire his outfit to continue their form into 2016 remains to be seen, but in a week in which they have defeated Chelsea at home and Everton away, they will be forgiven for celebrating their current success. “I think Claudio Ranieri deserves all the credit for developing the belief in that team”, Martinez said.

“Forget how they play tactically – it is just the mentality of that group”. We were very concentrated and we didn’t allow them much space.

Martinez, who reiterated that he will not be selling any of his key players in January, said: ” It’s been really good news. “But it’s nothing serious, so I put on Ulloa to keep possession and jump on set plays”.

‘The throw-in before the third goal could have been a handball – but we cannot rely on referee’s decision, we need to be better on all three goals.

Stones suffered ankle and knee injuries during last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Norwich at Carrow Road.