Leicester City

So Leicester did to West Bromwich Albion what both Plymouth and Millwall did to us in the previous two games.

Let the opposition have most of the ball and the most shots, see off 17 out of 18 of them, and then win the game.

But, at this stage of the season it’s results that count.

While the three points were more than we deserved from the game in all honesty, it was also more than I expected when Jamie Vardy hit the post with his penalty. Then he came back and did what he does best – got the winner.

It was also good to see Hamza Choudhury have such a good game, especially with the derision his selection received. Man of the Match with three goal line clearances and the hat-trick of right foot, left foot and header.

I'm not sure he deserved the kiss off Enzo at the end, but his eternal thanks - definitely.

I just hope Enzo proves he’s no Brendan, who was also the same towards Hamza after a victory over Liverpool - walking off the pitch arms round his shoulder, pointing at him.

He never played again that season and was loaned out. Somehow I don’t think Enzo will.

Chris Forryan can be found at Leicester Till I Die, external

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Former Leicester winger Matt Piper on the When You're Smiling podcast after Hamza Choudhury earned the man of the match award in the win over West Brom: "I think Hamza was a one-man wrecking ball for Leicester City. He cleared away so many chances off the line.

"The reason we won that that game wasn't because of the goals we scored but because of the three clearances off of the line. You know, he can give the ball away at times, he can have indifferent performances but you can never say that he doesn't have the passion, the fight and the will to do everything he can to make this football club successful."

Full episode on BBC Sounds

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Former Leicester City winger Matt Piper discussed the Foxes' 2-1 Championship victory over West Bromwich Albion on the When You're Smiling podcast:

"It's a huge win. It seemed nobody wanted to take that step to win this title. Leeds, Ipswich and Leicester have all stumbled when it's come towards the business end of the season.

"This was a massive potential banana skin for Leicester - a West Brom side that have been really good on the road this season and are fighting to get into the top six. They presented a real stern test but there were some big characters in the side.

"Conor Coady was one of them but nobody more than Jamie Vardy. He misses a penalty, stays on the pitch, scores us the winner and that's why we call him the goat.

"The crowd knew how big this game was, the players did too.

"Credit to West Brom - they came aggressive and posed a threat, and you have to say our goal did lead a very charmed life. Hamza Choudhury was a one-man wrecking ball keeping it out. He cleared so many off the line."

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Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca appreciates the threats West Bromwich Albion pose, ahead of Saturday's Championship match at King Power Stadium.

The Italian says the Foxes are prepared for an "intense" match against a Baggies side that are in fifth and looking likely to make the play-offs.

In the reverse fixture, Carlos Corberan's side equalised in the 89th minute before Harry Winks scored a 94th-minute winner.

"We know the manager is intense," Maresca said in Friday's news conference. "We know they are intense off the ball.

"They press incredibly hard and set up with two very strong lines of four or five."

With promotion rivals Ipswich not playing this weekend, Leicester can go top of the table with victory and Maresca is grateful to be playing in front of their own supporters.

"We are lucky we are at playing at home this weekend," he said. "We play with one extra player."

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Conor Coady has only made nine Championship appearances for Leicester City so far this season, making Enzo Maresca's starting line-up in just six games and featuring as a substitute in three games.

Former Leicester City striker Steve Howard told BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast he is confused about Coady's continued exclusion from the side: "I was really surprised that after his good cup game, he didn't get selected for the Saturday game after that. Everybody took a step back and said they weren't sure about that [call from manager Enzo Maresca].

"Then he got introduced into the team and the team win. I have always been a massive fan of Conor Coady and what he brings to the team with his experience. I know he is not the club captain, but he is sure to be the captain on the pitch.

"He can get a hold of these young lads and say: 'Look, let's just calm the ship. Let's just go in, do a job, and do what we need to do.'

"With it being so tight at the top, Coady would come in and firm the ship up. [Wout] Faes does like to play the ball, run out, and play one-twos at the edge of his box. It is heart-in-the-mouth stuff, but it's one where you have to question if Leicester need a player like that at this moment in time?

"Or do they need a secure player, where you know what you are going to get, who is going to fight, battle and boss everybody about? I think that is what Conor Coady brings to the team."

However, Howard does not believe Maresca will change his defensive shape before the end of the season: "That is the way he wants to play. We have said all season that he will never change his system.

"When Leicester were 15 points clear at the top of the league, everyone was thinking this is the way we need to play.

"But, towards the end of the season, there has been a certain level of pressure on the defence that they cannot handle. It has shown little gaps which opposing teams are exploiting.

"It just needs to be eradicated, especially for the last four games."

The Foxes' final four games see them host West Bromwich Albion, Southampton and Blackburn Rovers with their only away game on the penultimate matchday against Preston North End at Deepdale.

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The Championship title and promotion race is incredible.

Leicester were 12 points away at one point and looked like they were going to set all kinds of records. Southampton started off slowly before going on an unbelievable run, dropped off again, and now they are back in with an unbelievable shout because of the performances and the results of the top three.

Ipswich have been relentless to get to where they are and Leeds are now just having a hiccup. From their point of view, what was hard for them at the beginning was all the uncertainty around players and their loan deals and clauses that were written in on relegation. They had a slow start but then they have been incredible since.

There are some amazing games coming up for all those in the title and promotion race and it will be wonderful to watch.

But at the moment it feels like no one wants to win it with the points that are being dropped and you have to say it is the pressure. The pressure is ultimately playing into the race.

If you were to ask me who is going to win the title and who is going to get promoted – I could not call it. You cannot call it because of the results the teams have had and the games they have coming up.

When Leeds were facing a struggling Blackburn at home you would think it was the perfect game for them - and then they lost. Leicester went to Millwall and you thought that would be a game where they could go and get three points and then they didn't.

With the drama still to come in matches they have to play against each other too, it is fascinating.

This year's battle for automatic promotion to the Premier League looks set to go right to the wire, with last season's relegated sides Leicester, Leeds and Southampton trying to bounce straight back. However, Kieran McKenna's Ipswich are currently top of a four-way fight.

BBC Sport has examined the run-in and Opta's predictions for the final league table.

At the turn of the year Enzo Maresca's Leicester looked certain to bounce straight back up to the Premier League, topping the Championship table with a 13-point gap over third-place Southampton.

But after the Saints' win over Preston on Tuesday, four teams are involved with just a handful of games to go.

According to Opta, the Foxes have a 62% chance of winning the title and 84% of sealing promotion. Ipswich have a 62% chance of securing back-to-back promotions, according to Opta.

Southampton are predicted to get 89 points, with two of their final four games away at Leicester and Leeds.

Read the full lowdown on the Championship promotion battle

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Former Leicester City winger Matt Piper has been further explaining his comment on the "casual arrogance" some of the players showed during the defeat to Plymouth Argyle, on BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast.

"I don't know if they are the players who have been promised by their agents that they will move on at the end of the season, so they have allowed this complacency to come in and that bit of arrogance," Piper said.

"I don't like to pick players out but Wout Faes' performance was definitely one of those. It was like he thought that he could stroll around and get it done.

"I don't know if it was the fact that he thinks he is moving on after this season, or if it is the fact that we are playing 19th and 20th in the table, I'm too good for this, and we will come back into this game and be able to win it by strolling about.

"The reason why people say the Championship is one of the hardest leagues is because you don't win football matches if you turn up with that kind of attitude. Everyone grafts."

Piper also suggested Enzo Maresca could have utilised some of his other squad members earlier in the season, after the Foxes boss commented on the "busy schedule" in the Championship: "It has been a long old season. We know it is gruelling.

"The manager is complaining about the schedule, the amount of games and stuff, but he has got a brilliant squad.

"The first time I really said that was the other night, because you don't want to get after a gaffer that is top of the table and was on for a history-making total not so long ago, but you have to say it how it is. He has got a brilliant squad.

"He utilised it earlier on in the season and that really worked for him. He has now settled on these 13 or 14 players, which I get because they are the best 13 or 14 players, especially in the system that Enzo plays.

"But you can't then moan about the schedule - change it up, rely on those other players to help you out earlier on in the season.

"I still think we will do it. I still think that we will go up. I'm not pure doom and gloom.

"I still believe in the players and I still hugely believe in the manager."

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Let me take you back to just before 17:00 on Sunday, 28 May 2023.

We had just beaten West Ham, but Everton beating Bournemouth meant Leicester City were relegated.

Looking at the club then, not many of us held out much hope for an instant return to the Premier League.

The Foxes were managerless and had a squad that could not even win a rock, paper, scissors game and who were mostly out of contract.

There was, despite the club anthem, nothing to smile about.

Then Enzo Maresca came through the door from left field. He let the dead wood go, sold some of the players to bring in money and brought in replacements and more.

Then, to all of our surprise, we actually started winning matches.

It was a different style, yes. It was a style that some did not like. But we were top of the league and looking odds-on to go straight back up.

But I kept asking: when will we have our blip? Oh how I wish I had kept my mouth shut.

From having one team 17 points clear at the top of the table, it now seems no team wants an automatic passage to the top flight. It has become a series of 'we lose, they lose' scenarios.

From a neutral perspective, it must be very exciting. The problem is, I'm not a neutral.

Chris Forryan can be found at Leicester Till I Die, external

Leicester City defender Conor Coady says they are not concentrating on the other promotion chasing teams around them and their focus is just on themselves.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club, he said "it is natural" for footballers to look at results around them but "it 100% affects you" too.

"We have spoke as a team over the last week and said the results we have had at Leicester are the only thing that matters and we should not concentrate on all the others," said Coady.

"We can not affect what anybody else is doing. So we looked at ourselves and have gone right, it is us and that is it and we focus on ourselves.

"When you get to this end of the season, you are within touching distance of what you want to get and what you are desperate for. It is what you have worked all season for.

"You can have managers and you can have people around you going ‘don't look at that' or 'don't check’ but it is100% a natural thing to do. You have just got to make sure you are doing your job when it comes to training and playing.

"We are fighting every single day with ourselves in training to make sure we take that jump and take what we believe we are deserved after this season."

Watch the Monday Night Club on BBC iPlayer or listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

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Leicester City were dealt another blow to their automatic promotion hopes as they lost to Plymouth Argyle, suffering back-to-back defeats for just the fourth time this season.

Former Leicester City winger Matt Piper has been reacting to the scenes after the 1-0 defeat on the When You're Smiling podcast: "The players are walking over to the 1,700 [supporters] who have travelled. There are a lot [of people] who have stayed to clap the team. I think there is a few in there that are asking the question: where do we go from here?

"The players are going right up to the front of the crowd. James Justin is there at the front. There is a lot of arm waving.

"It is not a great sight. Not many of the other players have gone over, they have gone straight down the tunnel like they are embarrassed. Especially in that second half, that is the right feeling. They should feel that. I don't think they should feel proud of that performance.

"You have 1,700 travelling Leicester fans who won't get home until 4am. They have spent an absolute fortune to come and watch you, and it was just more of the same - those real poor performances we have been seeing lately.

Piper also commented on the "casual arrogance" that he believes some players showed at Home Park: "It is no good anymore praising this team for playing 'attractive football' between both penalty areas, because they just keep losing football matches. The longer you keep doing that, you don't deserve to go back up to the Premier League.

"Enzo [Maresca] is going to have to work incredibly hard with this group to try to regain the confidence.

"We looked lethargic most of the night. I thought there was a casual arrogance in certain players' performances - they thought they would just turn up to 20th in the table Plymouth Argyle and roll them over. That wasn't the case.

"They [Plymouth Argyle] showed a lot more fight, a lot more passion and a lot more desire to stay in the league than we did to go and win the league. When that happens, you lose football matches, and it is not good enough."

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Tottenham are tracking Leicester City's English midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and could sign the 25-year-old for between £30m and £40m this summer. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer news? Read Monday's full gossip column

Aaron Paul, ex-Reading midfielder Jobi McAnuff and Wycombe defender Joe Jacobson discuss the Championship promotion race and much more from the English Football League on the latest episode of the BBC's Football Daily 72+ podcast.

Listen now on BBC Sounds

On the latest episode of BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast, Owynn Palmer-Atkin is joined by former Foxes striker Matty Fryatt and journalist Josh Holland to preview Friday's game at Plymouth Argyle.

There are also interviews with Enzo Maresca and Ricardo Pereira.

"Leeds and Ipswich failing to win [in midweek] - they can use that as motivation for Friday to go four points clear at the top," said Holland.

"It's a positive to play first. I'd like to think they've learned from Tuesday, analysed it and realised how they can avoid a repeat at Plymouth on Friday.

"I think we'll need definitely two - maybe three - more wins to secure promotion."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds