City duo in team of the year

Two Leicester City players have been named as part of the Professional Football Association's Championship Team of the Year.

Andy King and Kyle Naughton have both been key players as Sven Goran Eriksson's Foxes have struggled towards the play-off places having made the club's worst ever start to a season. They were both nominated by their peers to appear in the XI selected by the PFA in an awards dinner that saw King's Wales team-mate Gareth Bale take the overall Player of the Year prize whilst Arsenal's Jack Wilshere picked-up the Young Player of the Year award.

Naughton was chosen as the Championship's best right back, whilst King was selected in the highly competitive central midfield position.

PFA Championship Team of the Year
Goalkeeper: Paddy Kenny (Queens Park Rangers)

Defenders: Kyle Naughton (Leicester City), Ian Harte (Reading), Ashley Williams (Swansea City), Wes Morgan (Nottm Forest)

Midfielders: Adel Taarabt (Queens Park Rangers), Scott Sinclair (Swansea City),Andy King (Leicester City), Wes Hoolahan (Norwich City)

Forwards: Danny Graham (Watford), Grant Holt (Norwich City)

Eriksson to give evidence to fraud office

Leicester City manager Sven Goran Eriksson will give evidence to the Serious Fraud Office after a con that saw him appointed director of football at ailing Notts County.

Eriksson was appointed at the Magpies following a takeover that promised billions of Middle Eastern investment into the East Midlands club. That money never materialised and Eriksson was left high and dry, claiming he became suspicious after the milk bill at the club failed to be paid.

"For me as a football man it was fantastic, building a club from the bottom of League Two and having the funding to do it, to be a Premier League club. It's like a dream, so I signed," said the Swede, "Big mistake. I started to have doubts when they came and told me the milk bill has not been paid."

The fraudulent deal that also hooked-in City bankers and the North Korean government is to be examined in a special Panorama programme, 'The Trillion Dollar Con Man' to be screened on BBC One tonight at 8:30pm.

Belated Conclusions from the Madejski Stadium

Reading	3-1	Leicester
	(HT 2-0)
Kebe 19 McAnuff 21 Hunt 67		King 79

Att: 19,199
BBC Match Report

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• A poor performance nails the coffin closed. Only a groundskeeper at the graveyard of our season wandering his cemetery on a silent evening will hear the cries for help of Leicester City fans now. We're clinging on with our last breaths to a vague hope that promotion this season is still a possibility. This commentator is a sceptic, but even the most optimistic of supporters are now waking up to the prospect of another nearly-great Championship season.
• Defending is the problem. From Sol Bamba's insistence on calling for absent offside decisions to the worrying trend of results surrounding appearances by Jeffrey Bruma, the Foxes' back line is what seems to be most at fault. Quickly, a choice of who to play and where in a very competitive back line has boiled down to a need for consistency from the two men who have been at the club for the longest this season: Miguel Vitor and Ben Mee. It's there time to shine if the optimists' dreams are to be proven accurate.

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Vitor': His introduction bolstered the Foxes' defence

Winners
Miguel Vitor
Despite making only a second half appearance, Alan Young gave the Portuguese loanee his informal man of the match award on BBC Radio Leicester. This therefore begs the question: if he doesn't start the next game alongside Ben Mee, how much are Chelsea paying us to lose our play-off place at the expense of giving Jeffrey Bruma a run-out?

Paul Gallagher
Shop windowing? Trying to persuade Sven Goran Eriksson that he must, MUST, start the next game? This was a performance indicative of one of the above, his second-half introduction changing the game in favour of Leicester and allowing a change to the short-passing game played up to that point that was clearly just not working against a pacey, determined Reading side.


Steve Howard
Gave increased focus to the attacks which lacked that earlier in the game. He acted as the target man that was needed against Reading with the Foxes playing 4-3-3, particularly after the introduction of Gallagher and his long ball deliveries. Howard had fewer scoring opportunities than Yakubu but the Leicester attack looked far more purposeful with his influence. He seemed to raise spirits within the team, too.

Andy King

Despite it being a mere consolation, Andy King's goal failed to disappoint and will be another of his many fine strikes that can be added to his end-of-season compilation video. The Welshman's goal came out of nowhere and was as crisp a-strike as you are ever likely to see, nailed straight and narrow into the bottom corner. A pity, then, that it failed to cap a wonderful victory and instead will remind us of a dismal defeat.

Sven Goran Eriksson
It is to the Swede's credit that three of the four men featured above are substitutes introduced in the second half. One could argue that those same three men should have started in place of those whom they replaced, but to do so would take away the credit of Eriksson in his attempts to alter the tempo and style of his team when they were reeling at 2-0 and 3-0 down.

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Losers

Bamba: Outpaced and outclassed

Sol Bamba

Schoolboy errors abound, Bamba had a shocker. He was at fault for allowing Shane Long the space and time he needed to power to the byline and cross for Jimmy Kebe's opener - Bamba caught standing as he appealed for an offside flag that was never going to be raised. He was less to blame for Reading's second, but was at fault when Jimmy Kebe was presented with three clear chances as Reading quickly broke forward on three separate occasions, the centre-halves failing to deal with the advancing threats. Thankfully, Kebe's radar was wide of the mark on each occasion. Many more mature performances are needed from Bamba if he is to compete for his starting place.

Jeffrey Bruma
Perhaps it is harsh to pin the blame on Bruma for McAnuff's cool finish after a catalogue of errors gifted the Royals a second, however it was the Dutchman who stood off and allowed McAnuff the sight at goal. He was to blame - as was Bamba - for continually allowing Reading to break forward and challenge Chris Weale on the break. Bruma was entirely to blame for the Royals' third goal as he slipped, gifting the advancing Kebe with a choice of passes that led to Noel Hunt firing home. Whatever Bruma lacked against Reading - bravery, positioning, agility, pace - is not a good sign for a young defender hoping for starting berth at Chelsea in the future.

Yakubu
Failed to offer the focus that was needed in attacking a Reading side at 2-0 down and his poor finishing meant that there was little need for his appearance on the pitch. Perhaps he is already dreaming of the Premier League, which will come again next season (if it does) without his Leicester team-mates.

King commits to Foxes' cause

King: The Foxes skipper has signed for four more years

Andy King has shown his commitment to Leicester City by signing an extension to his existing three-year contract that will see him stay at the Walkers Stadium until 2015.

The Welsh international midfielder has impressed many since his emergence into the Foxes' starting eleven three seasons ago and he is widely tipped to take the club's Player of the Year award next month following a fans' vote.

Speaking to LCFC.com, King said that he was looking forward to Premier League football, but would like to be  part of a promoted Leicester side.

"It has always been my ambition to play Premier League football and it is obvious that Leicester City are heading in that direction. I am delighted that I will have the chance to help achieve that ambition. The owners and the manager have big ambitions for the Club, so knowing they want me to be here in the long term is a great feeling, especially as I only signed a new deal last year."

King has made an impressive 160 appearances for Leicester since graduating from the club's academy in 2007, going on to score a credible 38 goals - 14 of which see him as City's top scorer this term.

Fans asked for their views as PotY voting opens

Voting for Leicester City's Player of the Year competition has opened with fans asked by the club to vote for their heroes in three major categories.

The Goal of the Season award sees ten cracking finishers go head-to-head vying for the one vote of each blue-shirted fan, whilst the Young Player of the Year award sees six nominees pitched against one-another. Loanees Patrick Van Aanholt, Jeffrey Bruma, Ben Mee and Kyle Naughton will compete against Martyn Waghorn and last year's winner Andy King, whilst the entire squad is available for nomination for the ultimate Player of the Year accolade.

Fans can vote for their choices using a SurveyMonkey form online, with the winners being announced at the club's end of season gala dinner on Tuesday, 3rd May.

Conclusions from Crystal Palace

Leicester	1-1	Crystal Palace
	(HT 0-1)
Oakley 58		Scannell 31 Zaha off 90+5

Att: 22,303
BBC Match Report

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• Irony reigns. Initial thoughts would be that this is the season over for Leicester City. Well done lads, but this season is over, try again next year. That irony is that the Foxes are closer now than they were at the start of this game and, despite my pessimism after the win over Burnley, I'm more optimistic now than I was after that 4-0 thrashing. Who knows what the next turn will be in this fascinating season?
• The battle between heart and head goes on. The heart has for so long been saying that four, five - even six - points is nothing, two wins to the heady heights of the play-offs. But the head... Ahh, the head is a different matter. The head thinks about points and goal difference and the teams yet to play, those that will pose a challenge. This season's intrigue will grow yet.
• At least we're not Sheffield United. The Blades lie on the brink of League One. The sickening feeling of that experience, shared by Leicester City fans just three years ago, is one that no Fox wishes to repeat and it is a sad day to see a great club like this fall into obscurity in such embarrassing fashion.

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Winners

Matt Oakley

A decent performance in midfield capped by his first goal in a year. A lively game from the veteran midfielder in which he showed his class at this level in distributing the ball well and moving the game forward effectively. His contribution to the score sheet was vital, if in vain.

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Losers

Steve Howard

The big man failed to have the impact he should have done, his aerial presence barely highlighted as the Foxes played forward long in an attempt to grab that elusive winner.

Diomansy Kamara
That sensational start to his Leicester City career faltered tonight as Kamara failed to shine, whether that be through a lack of service or his own poor performance.

Yakubu
Another off game for the Yak who lacked urgency and bite up front, failing to score again after that hat-trick of just two games ago promised so much was to come from the Nigerian.

Conclusions from Burnley

Leicester	4-0	Burnley
	(HT 1-0)
Kamara 23 Gallagher 52 (pen), 71 Van Aanholt 81

Att: 24,039
BBC Match Report

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• Well, that won't do the goal difference any harm. A home victory by four clear goals and with a clean sheet thrown-in will be great for Leicester's figures - currently one of the worst goal differences in the top half of the Championship - which could be crucial as the play-off race becomes ever tighter.
• It was great to see us thrash someone. It finished as four, but Gallagher has two attempts to grab his hat-trick, Wellens hit the bar... and they were just the memorable efforts. Whilst our undeniably solid defending today helped do the job, it was the positive attacking play even at 4-0 that won this fixture against a poor Burnley side. And what a turnaround from the 3-0 drubbing at Turf Moor back in September.
• If this were a rating of squads, rather than a choice of the best and worst performers, nobody would score less than seven. This was not a group of individuals standing-out particularly, but a team performance that saw every member of the squad pulling their weight. This was Leicester City's best performance of the season.

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Winners
Diomansy Kamara
Netted his first goal to give the Foxes a half time lead in his home début. Today he developed his partnership with Yakubu up front, something formidable that could end up giving Leicester an edge over their play-off rivals as we approach the end of the season.

Paul Gallagher
Two chances, two goals. A standard high quality penalty and a great shot that beat Brian Jensen easily even from thirty yards in a peerless performance. Gallagher is fast becoming the Foxes' most important player.

Patrick van Aanholt
Proved his quality as an advancing full-back when he scored a scorcher to open his senior league account, but matched that with a great defensive performance that helped Leicester secure a crucial clean sheet.

Ben Mee
Alan Young's man of the match, Mee was another defender who covered his line well today, despite playing at right-back as opposed to his more usual centre-half.

Chris Weale

A solid performance from the fans' favourite goalkeeper, leading his back four as well as a good performance between the sticks.

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Losers

The Play-off Push

I fear this resurgence has come too late. Leeds United remain in sixth place in the play-off places on 64 points, five clear of Leicester who have jumped up to ninth. Even with this peerless victory today, the play-off places could this season now be beyond the Foxes' grasp.

Hamstring strain ends season for Wag

Leicester City striker Martyn Waghorn will be out for the rest of the season after he tore a hamstring in training yesterday.

The ex-Sunderland man, bought by Paulo Sousa as a sweetener to allay criticism from Foxes fans in September, has a grade-two strain that will see him out for eight weeks - with only seven remaining of the current Championship season.

Waghorn's chances have been limited this season as he slipped down the pecking order under Sven Goran Eriksson, with Diomansy Kamara the latest loanee to join the front-line at the Walkers Stadium.

Conclusions from the Riverside Stadium

Middlesbrough	3-3	Leicester
	(HT 1-2)
Emnes 14 Williams 55 McManus 90+4		Yakubu 4, 45+3, 48 Bruma off 77

Att: 14,500
BBC Match Report

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• This was football at its best. Not because of the quality of the game or any rare or uncanny eventuality, but the sheer pace at which it changed direction and swerved. This was the perfect example of why we follow our club through thick and thin, high and low, with goals and controversy galore... just a brilliant afternoon's entertainment.
• Attacking is all well and good, but you need to have some defence too. The quality of Leicester City's defending was as poor as our attacking was good this afternoon. Too many errors allowed Middlesbrough back into the game and, even though Rhys Williams' strike was a great one, it was mistakes at the back that made this a shaky draw instead of the easy victory it could so easily have been. 

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Winners

Yakubu

A week off gave plenty of fans the opportunity to reflect on various players' performances and one man widely criticised was Yakubu. He answered those critics in style this afternoon as he put in a real shift to give the Foxes a crucial win and earn himself the match ball in the process. A great performance at his former club from the big man.

Chris Weale
Hero. Although he was one of many players to blame for Middlesbrough's early equaliser (he was helpless to stop Williams' stunning second for the home side), Weale's call back into the starting eleven was one he answered with aplomb. Once again, Ricardo was a man who received some harsh feedback from various commentators and Sven Goran Eriksson opted to drop him in favour of the Bristolian for this afternoon's clash. It worked, Weale making some crucial saves to keep the Foxes fighting. His penalty save was at the time one of the biggest turning points of the season, and in the end it meant the Foxes left the north-east with a point instead of nothing at all.

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Losers

Patrick van Aanholt

A poor header gifted the home side their equaliser as he gave the ball away and, despite his promise going forward, the young Dutch full back is caught out at the back far too often.

Jeffrey Bruma
The handball decision that led to the Boro penalty was dubious but dealt with superbly by Weale. What followed was farcical as Bruma continued to harry the referee and was rightly sent off for dissent. This was a perfect example of how the youthful make-up of the Leicester City defence can easily implode, with a poor overall performance at the back compounded by Bruma's tantrum that made this superb game end with just a single point for the Foxes instead of the three we deserved.

Andy Haines, London
A poor, poor refereeing performance today from the man in black who has shot the Foxes good discipline record to pieces with five yellow cards and one red. It was not that he was trigger happy in his pocket, rather that he failed to put Boro players in the book for very similar challenges to those that went punished against players in royal blue. It was inconsistency that was the issue today. Perhaps his only good decision was in the second booking dished-out to Jeffrey Bruma who deserved his red card for dissent, but overall Haines today did not demonstrate a fitness to officiate at this level.

ADI unveil Foxes new big screens

Video screen manufacturer ADI have revealed the new screens that have been installed at the Walkers Stadium in time for Leicester City's next home fixture.

The 250,000-LED displays are designed as completely weatherproof and ultra-bright to be viewable even in direct sunlight. They are thought to be the most advanced video screens, as well as the first of their kind, to be fitted in the UK.

The giant screens - measuring 30 square metres - have been installed temporarily in two diagonally-opposite corners of the Walkers Stadium, ensuring every fan will have a view of the new technology, which will be used for live coverage, action replays and pre-match entertainment.

Oakley stands-down as skipper

Leicester City has a new club captain after Matt Oakley resigned his position earlier today.

Oakley, who signed a new deal to extend his stay in the East Midlands by a year yesterday, has given up the armband in favour of Andy King, the 22-year-old Welsh international who appeared against England this afternoon. Oakley feels that King, as a core part of the Foxes midfield, is better able to lead the club into the future.

Oakley puts pen to paper

Re-signed: Oakley in action for the Foxes reserves today

Foxes skipper Matt Oakley has signed a new contract that extends his current deal by a year. The ex-Derby man has played less of a prominent role of late as Leicester look towards the play-offs with Yuki Abe, Richie Wellens and young Andy King at the heart of the first team. Oakley has, however, much to offer off the pitch as well as on it, according to Sven Goran Eriksson.

"I am very happy that we have agreed an extension with Matt. He is not only a good football player, but he is an excellent professional.It is important for us to have people like Matt around the club, especially as we often have a young team out on the pitch. He has a positive influence on his colleagues and his experience in the game will be invaluable for us."

Oakley - along with first team regulars Lloyd Dyer, Paul Gallagher, Darius Vassell, Yakubu and Wellens - played a behind-closed-doors reserve team friendly against West Bromwich Albion this afternoon. The strong Foxes side, also including the returning from injury Aleksandar Tunchev and Steve Howard, lost out by a single goal from Baggies' striker Simon Cox.

Senegal international Kamara joins Foxes

Loan: Kamara joins the Foxes

Senegalese international Diomansy Kamara has become the latest addition to Sven Goran Eriksson's squad as he joined Leicester City on loan today until the end of the season.

Kamara, 30, first came to England when he was signed by Portsmouth in 2004. Since then he has flourished at West Bromwich Albion and now Fulham, moving to the west London club after an impressive 23 goals led the Baggies to the Premier League in 2007. The Paris-born striker now hopes to repeat that feat in the East Midlands.

"Hopefully he will score goals," said Eriksson, "His record is very good. We hope he can help us win more games and score more goals. I like pace, especially in strikers and he has pace. If King and Yakubu don't score, defenders have been scoring, but you can't ask defenders to be scoring all the time: normally it has to be a big goalscorer."

In other news, Foxes goalkeeper Conrad Logan has extended his stay at League One Bristol Rovers for a further month as he continues to seek first team football.

Conclusions from Portsmouth

Leicester	0-1	Portsmouth
	(HT 0-1)
		Nugent 13

Att: 26,645
BBC Match Report

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• Show some conviction! It was almost a confidence thing - the Foxes seemed unable to attempt an actual shot on goal in the first half of this game, with chances limited mostly to headers and the odd rash attempt from Mr Yakubu. Leicester were frustrated by a Portsmouth side pressing high up the pitch and, even when breaking through the midfield like Yuki Abe did in the closing stages of the first forty-five, were unable to convert a half chance into a real attempt on goal. It was... odd.
• A golden opportunity, wasted. Almost every result went Leicester City's way today. Every result, that is, except their own. A last-ditch equaliser in a game such as this can change a season. As it is, only the true optimists will be looking for the promotion push to continue now. It's nearly time to give up, focus on rebuilding for next season and look to the future. Whatever went wrong today, we were poor against a Portsmouth side that pushed forward and pressurised our back line to great effect.

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Winners

Yuki Abe

Another sound performance under what must be terrible circumstances for the only Japanese player in the Football League. Abe was once more here, there and everywhere as he found himself covering for absent defenders as well as, increasingly, pressing forward.

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Losers

Sol Bamba

Guilty of two poor headers, the first leading to a chance that was dealt with well by a sliding Ricardo, the second leading to the opening goal. Under little pressure the Ivorian's defensive header was flat and fell easily to David Nugent who made no mistake in slotting the ball past a flapping goalkeeper. Pompey should have sealed their victory with ten minutes left after Bamba stood waiting for an offside flag that never came, the defender's blushes only saved by the Portsmouth striker's poor finishing.

Yakubu
Despite putting in more of a shift than usual, Yakubu's technique was way off this afternoon. His shooting was erratic and control, at times, questionable. Shooting wide on more than one occasion when one-on-one and firing way, way over as the Foxes looked to grab a late point... this just isn't good enough for a player of his supposed calibre.

Mr Paul Tierney, Lancashire
Some very bizarre calls from the referee resulted in a hostile atmosphere this afternoon. He kept his cards in his pocket for far too long as Portsmouth defenders hacked away at The Yak as they committed six fouls in the first twenty-five minutes. It took an injury to Ben Mee after a horrendous tackle before a Pompey player saw yellow. His worst decision, however, came as the visitor's Hreidarsson laid injured off the pitch and, from a Foxes throw-in that led to Yakubu bearing-down on goal, blew for play to be stopped. There is nothing in the Laws of the Game to say that was a correct decision and, much as referees should be respected and given the benefit of the doubt, there has to be consistency if footballers - and fans - are to have any faith in them.

Key foursome to pen new deals

Key: Wellens, Gallagher and King celebrate with Lloyd Dyer

Leicester City's key men are set to sign new deals having been offered extended terms by Sven Goran Eriksson in the wake of Saturday's emphatic win over Scunthorpe United.

Paul Gallagher is closest to agreeing a new contract at the Walkers Stadium, whilst midfielder Richie Wellens is also tipped to be agreeing to new terms in the coming days. 

Andy King, meanwhile, looks set to sign a deal that would see the terms of his current contract enhanced, with Eriksson describing the young Welsh international as a key player for the Foxes future.

"They haven't signed yet but I hope they will," noted the Swede on BBC Radio Leicester,  "I think we should do everything to try to keep them."

In the mean time, youth team prospect Jeffrey Schlupp has secured a new professional contract at the club that will see him remain in the East Midlands until June 2013. The German under-19 international has joined Brentford on a month-long loan as he looks to gain some first-team experience in the Football League.

Conclusions from Glanford Park

Scunthorpe United	0-3	Leicester
	(HT 0-1)
		Vitor 31, 72 Naughton 76

Att: 6,528
BBC Match Report

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• It worked well. Oh ye of little faith, Sven Goran Eriksson's perseverance even in the quagmire of Glanford Park worked. That the Foxes set up in their usual formation and played passing, flowing football from the back that paid-off in a classy performance. The opener admittedly came from a set piece but overall this performance was assured and controlled under tricky circumstances.
• Three vital points. Particularly on days where the likes of Burnley lose ground, it is vital that Leicester capitalise and grab points when they can: even more so that the Foxes take chances to optimise their currently appalling goal difference that stands at just one solitary goal.

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Winners

Yuki Abe

A super performance from the Japanese international made simply stunning considering the circumstances of his homeland prior to the start of this game. Abe played having been assured of his family's safety following the catastrophic effects of yesterday's earthquake and he did everything but find the net as he guided the Foxes midfield like a true professional. This was commitment to the Leicester City cause from Abe and that should certainly be commended.

Miguel Vitor
Equally at home in either eighteen-yard box, Vitor found the net to put Leicester ahead after making a solid return to the back four in the opening stages and capitalised in the second half to grab a superb brace. His partnership with Sol Bamba looked assured and as a pair they seem to complement each other nicely. This was a good performance from the Benfica loanee, who is quietly showing his worth as a potential transfer target for a permanent move come the summer.

Paul Gallagher
Two delicious crosses, two easy goals. Three assists in total for the Scot: Gally did exactly what he needed to do this afternoon.

Richie Wellens, Kyle Naughton and Ben Mee
Solid performances from the club's Mr Dependables.

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Losers

Yakubu and Darius Vassell

Too many touches on the ball, barely enough effort off it: Yakubu has disappointed many since his debut at Preston and the goals that followed have seemingly dried-up. Likewise, Darius Vassell has not found the net often enough for the Foxes, even though on balance his contributions away from goal are substantial. Maybe it's time for a change up top? This game more than any other this season shows how poor the front men have been in front of goal lately - all of today's goals came from defenders with the forwards barely having a sniff.

Conclusions from Norwich City

Leicester	2-3	Norwich City
	(HT 1-1)
Wellens 23 Gallagher 90+4		Hoolahan 21 Holt pen 49 Wilbraham 59

Att: 23,398
BBC Match Report

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• Sunday morning football at the Walkers. Poor near-post defending from Yakubu cost Leicester a goal as Wes Hoolahan beat him with an easy header. That lead lasted seconds before Richie Wellens took advantage of a howler from Chris Foy, the referee missing Matt Oakley's handball to wave play on and hand the opportunity to Wellens who made no mistake to head home. From then, the Foxes were reminiscent of a Sunday League outfit, guilty of mistakes at both ends of the pitch. This was not the fault of one player - this was a dire team display.
• Down and out? So. Farewell then Leicester City's hopes of promotion. Eight points adrift of the play-off places the dreams of automatic promotion of a month ago seem a long way away now. That night at the Cardiff City Stadium seems even more remote. Only a miracle could have saved the Foxes in this dark second period - and neither Martyn Waghorn nor Paul Gallagher could provide one tonight. This could well go down as the night that Leicester City stopped being play-off hopefuls and became, instead, a mid-table mediocrity. 
• Paul Gallagher's free kick was sublime. A pity, therefore, it came only in the last seconds of the game and served only as an utterly academic statistic. The one consolation from this result is that, in terms of the scoreline, the utter disgrace that was the Foxes' performance was hidden by a farcical one goal deficit. Farcical? Because Norwich deserved more.

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Winners
Bruno Berner
The forgotten man far too often, Berner not only delivered a blinder of a cross to feed Richie Wellens for the Foxes equaliser, he continued to ask the question of the Norwich defence throughout the game. Pushing forward, it was at times difficult to remember that the full back he was up against is nearly a decade his junior. A sterling performance from Leicester's model professional.

Richie Wellens
Insert regular superlatives here.

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Losers

Yakubu

The lad needs to put some effort in if he is to prove himself at Leicester. There is no doubting his ability and skill, but he needs to put in a full shift - and avoid silly defensive errors - to become beloved of Foxes fans. His poor shooting tonight may well have cost Leicester a play-off place.

21-odd thousand Blue Army
What a poor way to spend your money on a Tuesday night. You'd have had a better time, as a Leicester fan, walking through western Libya in a Gaddafi mask.

Conclusions from Loftus Road

Queens Park Rangers	1-0	Leicester
	(HT 0-0)
Miller 88

Att: 18,068
BBC Match Report

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• Solid, if unexplosive. For the first half Leicester played an understated, pressing style of football that seemed to knock the wind out of QPR's sails. The Rs did break forward and, at times, threatened the Leicester goal - worrying times for Foxes fans with Ricardo between the sticks. The Foxes nonetheless defended well and could be disappointed after the first 45 minutes to not go in with at least one goal to their credit.
• It was great to see a Foxes side going for it. Despite the more contained, defensive approach of a 4-4-2 formation adopted by Sven Goran Eriksson, Leicester continually pushed and pried to find a goal. That they did so even late in the game, away from home against the league leaders could perhaps be a criticism as the Hoops stole a late goal on the break, robbing the travelling fans of a satisfied journey back to the Midlands.
• The season may now lie in tatters. Results going as they did today, the Foxes have been leapfrogged in the Championship by the likes of Burnley and now what three games ago looked like an automatic promotion prospect now looks like a battle to scrape into the play-offs. To not reach that objective would be crushing and without a result against a hard to beat Norwich side on Tuesday evening... the future looks bleak.

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Winners
Jeffrey Bruma and Ben Mee
The young defenders had a superb first half, tracking back to defend well but also distributing the ball nicely further up the pitch, Mee in particular carrying the ball down the wing like a seasoned full-back and not the young centre half he is.

Yakubu

The Nigerian forward seemed to thrive in a partnership with Vassell up front, his usual 'lazy' demeanour replaced so that, at times, he appeared to show some dedication to the cause. His glorious attempted lob over Paddy Kenny should have seen the Foxes ahead after twenty-odd minutes but only the goalkeeper's superb athletics prevented that from happening. Yakubu continued to press well, creating opportunities for himself but also feeding others. It's probably true that the switch to 4-4-2 benefited the Yak more than any other Foxes player this afternoon.

Martyn Waghorn
Waghorn could have made a hero of Eriksson and his tactical nous when he nearly scored with his first touches of the game. Once more only Kenny's reactions prevented Leicester from taking the lead as Waghorn beat his man before his chip-shot was flicked away by the QPR goalkeeper. His introduction to the game was the right one to make as Darius Vassell flagged in the second half, but his impact only went so far and, crucially, no goal was becoming of the ex-Sunderland man.

Richie Wellens
Another, as anticipated, top performance from the midfielder - in both attack and, crucially, defence.

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Losers

Ricardo

His constant desire to punch the ball clear may be effective in Portuguese football, but in the Championship a goalkeeper's ability to catch the ball and hold it for a few seconds aids teams in slowing-down play and disrupting the opposition's flow. Ricardo was guilty of some dodgy clearances again this afternoon - only sheer luck prevented him 'doing a Szczęsny' as the Hoops pushed-on at the start of the second half.

Davies seeks Oakley reunion

Nottingham Forest manager Billy Davies is looking to take Leicester City club captain Matt Oakley to the City Ground in a shock move for the former Derby County skipper.

Oakley worked closely with Davies when the Rams were last in the Premier League and now, seeking to support his side's promotion ambitions, wants the Foxes' midfielder to join the Trees.

According to the Daily Mirror Davies hopes to persuade Sven Goran Eriksson to allow Oakley to leave on loan for the remainder of the season, whilst others suspect Oakley may have initiated negotiations with his former manager as he looks to secure a contract for next season. 

Everton's £6m chase for King begins

On his way? King celebrates scoring

Everton have been linked with a move for Andy King that could be worth £6 million (give or take a Yakubu) to Sven Goran Eriksson's Leicester City.

The young Welshman's star has risen since joining the Foxes' academy from Chelsea as a schoolboy in 2004 and now he plies his trade at the heart of the Leicester midfield. King's record for the East Midlands outfit is outstanding.

In his first full season as a senior professional at the club, he scored nine goals from midfield to aid his side gain promotion back to the Championship, earning the club's Young Player of the Year Award in the process. Last season the 22-year-old shared the Players' Player of the Year Award with defender Jack Hobbs, whilst to date he has netted a staggering fifteen times this season.

King is certainly a red-hot prospect - at 22 he is not yet a polished diamond, but still a rough stone - and would be sorely missed should David Moyes or anyone else decide to tempt him away from his adopted home town.

Everton would be a good side for King to join - Moyes has a sound record of nurturing Championship talent into Premier League stars and his style of play would suit him - but the talent of the Welshman is surely such that he could command a place at the heart of one of England's biggest clubs. Who knows, perhaps a two-figure offer from a Chelsea or a Manchester United could be in the reckoning?

For now, however, he remains a crucial part of a midfield threesome that must stay strong to aid Eriksson achieve his ambitions of taking Leicester City back to the Premier League, back to where they - and Andy King - belong.