Kasper Schmeichel says Leicester have a ‘formidable’ player who works so hard in training

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Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has waxed lyrical about Kelechi Iheanacho following his latest heroics for Brendan Rodgers’ charges.

The Foxes hosted Crystal Palace at the King Power Stadium on Monday night and were dealt a big blow early on as the opposition opened the scoring in the 12th minute.

Wilfried Zaha kept up his impressive goalscoring run against Leicester, timing his run perfectly and slotting a composed finish past Vicente Guaita for his first goal since January.

The visitors led going into the break but it didn’t take the Foxes long to draw level after the restart, Iheanacho setting up Timothy Castagne for the equaliser within five minutes.

And the 24-year-old went on to save the day when he rifled an unstoppable drive into the roof of the net in the 80th minute, his 14th goal in 14 games in all competitions.

It was a crucial goal which helped Leicester consolidate third spot in the table, seven points clear of fifth-placed West Ham, and keep the Foxes on track for Champions League qualification.

More than a quarter of Iheanacho’s entire Premier League goal tally has come in the last eight weeks, having netted 22 times in the 130 games beforehand.

However, Schmeichel says he and his teammates have always been well aware of the Nigeria international’s quality prior to this incredible run of form.

“You see it every single day,” the Denmark international told Sky Sports.

“I think it was a case of him finding his feet here at Leicester, and obviously having a massive figure like Jamie Vardy in front of you in the system we were playing with was always going to be difficult for him.

“But credit to him in training every day since he’s come in, he works so hard. He does all those things in training, he just needed that bit of luck or that goal to go in for him to give him that confidence, that belief.

“Now you can see his partnership, his link-up with Vards, it’s a formidable front two. I’m delighted and proud of him and I think everyone in the dressing room, you can see, is just so happy for him to see that the hard work is paying off.”

Up next for Leicester is Friday night’s Premier League trip to Southampton.