Vardy: We've Got To Be At Our Best

- Leicester City host Norwich City at King Power Stadium on Monday
- The Foxes need points to inject energy into their promotion challenge
- Jamie Vardy says City have 'eight cup finals' to go in the Sky Bet Championship

The Foxes welcome David Wagner's men to King Power Stadium for a 12:30pm BST kick-off on the back of a highly disappointing 1-0 reverse to Bristol City at Ashton Gate three days earlier.

Speaking after that loss, Vardy called on his team-mates to approach each match now like a cup final. City are third in the Championship, two behind leaders Leeds United, and one adrift of second-placed Ipswich Town, with a game in hand.

Monday's Norwich clash is the first of successive home games, with Birmingham City due in Leicester the following Saturday.

"Every defeat’s tough," the City No.9 said. "We’ve gone to the end, it wasn’t to be, but there’s no time to dwell on it. We’ve got a game on Monday. We’ll be in for recovery and looking forward to that game now.

"Every game’s important and we’ve got eight cup finals now. We just need to make sure we focus on that game now. That’s all that matters. We’ll focus on that one, hopefully pick up the three points, and then it’s game by game.

"That’s all we can do. The fans, we know how important they are. They always get behind us so we need to make sure we put a performance in so we can get them going."

As one of the most experienced figures in the dressing room, naturally Vardy will have his say on the final outcome of the season, currently Leicester's top goalscorer with 15 strikes to his name.

He says everyone appreciates the nature of the challenge in front of them - and was keen to stress that there's lots of points to play for. 

"It's not just me," the 37-year-old added. "We’ve got a lot of experience in that dressing room. Everyone knows what the goal is for finishing the season. Now we’ve just got to forget about this, get recovered, and make sure that we’re raring to go on Monday.

"No one wants to lose a game. I’ve missed a few chances today. The ‘keeper’s pulled a worldie off for one of them as well and it just wasn’t to be today. We’ve got to pick ourselves up. We know there’s still a long way to go.

"There's a lot of games in such a short space of time and we’ve just got to take them game by game. We’ll pick ourselves up today and go again.

"Within a short space of time, you can pick up six or nine points. We’ll get back and we go again on Monday. It’s going to be a tough game. We know every game for the last block of the season is going to be exactly the same.

"We’ve got to be at our best and we need to make sure we bring that to pick up those three points."

Back on home soil on Monday, Vardy also described the positive impact the Foxes faithful can have on the Norwich match.

"We know how important the fans are," he explained. "Once you’ve got the fans cheering you on, I know it’s a cliché, but it can make you go on that extra distance. That extra two yards for a tackle.

"You always need them behind you, but we’ve got to put in a performance to make sure the fans are with us."