Enzo Maresca's justification for Leicester's recent bad run of results

All is certainly not lost. At the start of the season, if the Blue Army were offered a three-point March lead in the Championship - the vast majority would have accepted the hypothetical proposal. Myself included. So the Foxes faithful should still consider themselves on course for a Premier League return, along with being content overall.

Although, the current LCFC downturn is quite startling. The lack of form - now three consecutive defeats in the English second division - is becoming slightly concerning. Even though a notable FA Cup victory at top-flight side Bournemouth sandwiches the disappointing results.

Despite no longer having a 12-point gap at the top of tier two, and the evaporation of a 14 points deficit over the playoff zone, confidence of promotion will undoubtedly remain in the Leicester camp. Surely!? An automatic ascendancy, that is. I don't think much of the squad would actually imagine allowing Ipswich Town and Leeds United to take both spots at the apex. But what has Maresca said about the worsening decline in performances and, most importantly, match outcomes? Apart from that the squad is "down and tired”:

"When you drop points it’s always a bad feeling, especially in this moment when if you win points, you see yourself getting closer to the target. It’s a matter of balance. It is what it is. Probably in the last three games we can be a little bit more lucky for the amount of shots and amount of chances we’ve had, but we need to just deal with that and try to win games very soon. They did everything, they did an incredible effort. They created many chances and shot many times. This is a moment where we struggle to score goals, but hopefully we can win games again soon."

Fortuitous consequence for Leicester City

I'm not sure that I fully agree with Leicester Mercury on this one. They suggest that Foxes fans' nerves may be "jangling" ahead of Tuesday's trip to Sunderland. I think many supporters will relish seeing their team get back to winning ways!

Irrespective of spectators' feelings and emotions, it is the LCFC players who must do their jobs satisfactorily. And Maresca has to find a way to sure up the defence, not to mention get the attack firing again. Meanwhile an interesting boost occurred:

"That result had a direct impact on City [Leeds 1-1 Huddersfield Town]. Without even playing a game, it reduced the maximum number of points needed [by Leicester] to guarantee a top-two finish from 31 to 29. It also gave them a slight boost in the title race. Ipswich’s lower goal difference adds another buffer, effectively meaning that 30 instead of 31 points could be enough to secure the title. There is now a game less to secure those points needed. City and their rivals have 11 games of the season remaining and it's quickly back to action with midweek games taking place."