Ranieri And His Fighting Foxes

- The Foxes move five points clear of Tottenham Hotspur at the top of the table after the win 

- Riyad Mahrez scores the only goal of the match early in the second half at Vicarage Road

- Ranieri praises the impact of his half time substitutes – Andy King and Jeffrey Schlupp 

Claudio Ranieri says his Leicester City side will continue to fight after a 1-0 Barclays Premier League win away at Watford sent them five points clear at the top of the table. 

It was a strike from Riyad Mahrez early in the second half that proved to be the difference at Vicarage Road – a stunning left footed effort that curled beautifully beyond Heurelho Gomes in the Watford goal. 

The win was welcome news for Foxes fans, who had seen second placed Tottenham Hotspur and third placed Arsenal battle to a 2-2 draw earlier in the afternoon, giving their team an opportunity to stretch the gap at the summit. 

It was a chance they grasped with both hands, but they were made to battle all over the park against one of the league’s toughest sides, and afterwards Ranieri insisted that there’s still plenty of fight left in his team. 

“It was a difficult match but now every match will be difficult, not only for us, but all the teams,” Ranieri told Foxes Player HD. “For us it was important to give this kind of answer to everybody. 

“We want to fight. I don’t know what we will do, but we will fight every match. We want to continue with this concentration, with this ability to be strong and so close to each other. 

“Today it was a tough match, but we created four or five chances to score a goal. Two in the first half and two in the second, and then we scored a fantastic goal with Riyad [Mahrez]. But all the players made a fantastic performance. 

“I want just to see my players fight and play as well as tonight. Now my focus is on Newcastle (on Monday week) because it will be a really tough match.” 

N’Golo Kanté started in place of Andy King against the Hornets, but the latter was part of a double half-time change along with Jeffrey Schlupp that helped to swing the game in City’s favour. 

He added: “I have very good players who don’t play but deserve to play. King scored a fantastic goal in the last match and today he was on the bench. But when I called him he was already ready. 

“It was important because in the first half there were more Watford players in the middle than us. We played just with two, with N’Golo and Drinky (Danny Drinkwater) and they suffered a lot because there were so many players there and I wanted to help them. 

“In the second half it was much better. We kept control and scored a fantastic goal. 

“It was a wonderful goal. Riyad shot very well but it’s important how he works for the team. The team is the boss. He has quality but he also plays very well when we defend.”