‘Little’ Leicester are not normal, says Ranieri

REUTERS – The success “little” Leicester City have achieved this season is not normal, manager Claudio Ranieri said on Thursday as his side sit second in the Premier League after 21 games, behind leaders Arsenal only on goal difference.

Unlikely title challengers Leicester were rock bottom for most of last season but pulled off a great escape to stay up after winning seven of their last nine matches and finish 14th.

Ranieri, who took over from Nigel Pearson at Leicester during the close season, has urged the club’s supporters to continue to dream.

“If the ‘little’ Leicester is looked down, it’s normal. It’s not normal what Leicester are doing. It’s unbelievable. It’s fantastic and our fans are dreaming,” Ranieri told reporters on Thursday.

“The fans must continue to dream, we must continue to work hard. We are so fast. Sometimes it’s difficult to stop us.”

After Wednesday’s impressive 1-0 league victory at Tottenham Hotspur, Ranieri called on his team not to lose focus when they travel to take on bottom side Aston Villa on Saturday.

“I believe only in the next match. I know the next match may be tougher than Tottenham. Aston Villa are a good team. They won their last match so now I want to see our mentality,” the 64-year-old Italian said.

“Okay, we went to Tottenham and won, which is not easy but now it’s important how we change our mindset and get ready to fight again.

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; editing by Justin Palmer)