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| Roberto Martinez heaped praise on high flying Leicester |
ROBERTO MARTINEZ believes Leicester are “capable of anything” this season and hailed their rise to the summit of the Premier League as being “refreshing” for English football.
Everton host Claudio Ranieri’s vibrant side on Saturday as the most in-form strikers in the top flight – Jamie Vardy and Romelu Lukaku – go head to head at Goodison Park.
Leicester demonstrated their potency once again with Monday night’s 2-1 win over beleaguered champions Chelsea which allowed them to return to the top of the standings.
And Martinez lavished praise on a team who were 5,000-1 outsiders for the title back in August and written off as relegation strugglers following Ranieri’s appointment.
“Leicester deserve to be top of the league,” said Martinez. “They have been really dynamic, one of the best counter-attacking teams in the league and they have goals.
“Claudio Ranieri deserves all the credit in developing belief in that team. We will have to be at our best and we have to be ourselves at the weekend.
“Of course they are (title contenders). Why shouldn’t they be? It is not just because they are top, they have been so competitive in every game.
“I have seen a change from the first two fixtures when they were testing themselves on how they could compete. Now they have incredible belief, knowing they can win and when you have that momentum it can be very, very powerful.
“The momentum they have achieved means they are capable of achieving anything this season. They are refreshing for modern football.
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| In-form strikers Romelu Lukaku and Jamie Vardy will go head-to-head on Saturday |
“We all know that finances dictate a lot, but to see Leicester there is inspirational. It is the belief, the momentum and the way they play. Every neutral fan will have a soft feeling towards Leicester.
“If you are looking at right times, or wrong times, to play an opposition, then Leicester are a team with no fear. They have an incredible spirit and players in the best moment of their careers.
“It is the worst time to face them, but we are ready to face those challenges.”
A win will keep Leicester at top for Christmas and Martinez knows the importance for his own team to ensure their swagger turns into points.
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| Phil Jagielka is expected to be back before the end of the year |
Everton have won just two of their last nine Premier League matches – a run dating back to the end of September – although they have lost just two of those matches as well.
“First and foremost, it is not the time to look at the table,” said the Everton manager. “As disappointed as we are with the amount of points we have dropped in the last games, we have been very consistent and some of our attacking play has been exceptional.
“Now we need to develop a little bit of know-how and transfer that attacking play in scorelines. If we do that we will end up with the results we deserve.
“We have a lot of young players and managing the game is important. There are moments of a game that you have to get through without being punished.
“But at the moment we have been punished every time.”
Martinez also gave an update on the fitness of James McCarthy, Phil Jagielka and Steven Pienaar.
“James has started running on the pitch and we will assess him tomorrow,” said Martinez. “If it is not Leicester, it will be one or two games over the Boxing Day period.
“Phil Jagielka had a very good session yesterday and we need to take it step by step, he hasn’t been able to get on the ball yet. He is ahead of what we expected and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was back before the end of the year.
“Steven has been working with the group for the last three days and I hope he will be able to enjoy his football again soon. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Meanwhile, youngster Tyias Browning is out for the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery.
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