Ranieri: Motivation Is High

- Leicester City face Manchester City at King Power Stadium on Tuesday night 

- The Foxes suffered their first defeat in 11 games with a 1-0 loss at Liverpool on Boxing Day 

- Ranieri says the home supporters at King Power Stadium will be like an extra player 

Claudio Ranieri says the prospect of playing a side with the quality of Manchester City will give Leicester City all the motivation they need to bounce back in the Barclays Premier League on Tuesday. 

The Foxes welcome title-challenging Manchester City to King Power Stadium with just a three-point gap between the two teams. A win for Leicester would stretch that to six while a defeat would see the Manchester side leapfrog them in the table on goal difference. 

It will be a welcome return to King Power Stadium for Leicester, who suffered just their second defeat of the league campaign on Boxing Day as they went down 1-0 to Liverpool at Anfield. 

However both manager and players spoke of a desire to respond quickly in the aftermath of that defeat and Ranieri thinks that playing one of the league’s most dangerous sides can bring the best out of his own players. 

He told Foxes Player HD: “The motivation is high because you’re playing one of the teams that can win the league like Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea. 

“We have to put in a very good performance to win that. “They have so much talent but it’s important that we recover our energy and show our football. 

“With our fans behind us at home we have one player more.” The Foxes will be without Jeffrey Schlupp for the fixture while Danny Drinkwater remains a doubt with a hamstring injury. 

Matty James is also missing as he continues his recovery from a long-term injury while Ranieri revealed that it was illness that led to Jamie Vardy being withdrawn in the second half against Liverpool. 

Ranieri said: He played with a fever and I didn’t want to give him the last 30 minutes.”