Leicester City vs Burnley preview - Pearson: England will call

Posted Friday, October 03, 2014 by PA

Boss Nigel Pearson insists his Leicester players will get international recognition if they keep delivering for the Foxes.

Striker Jamie Vardy was linked with an England call-up for their Euro 2016 qualifiers this month after his fine start to the season.

Vardy scored in the 5-3 win over Manchester United and Three Lions assistant manager Ray Lewington watched the 27-year-old in the Foxes' 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace last week.

Vardy, who was playing for Stocksbridge in the eighth tier of English football four years ago, missed out on selection for the games with San Marino and Estonia but, ahead of Saturday's visit of Burnley, Pearson believes rewards will come if his players perform.

"My views on any player who has been linked with international call-ups is that it is pretty positive but if people are still talking about any of our players at the turn of the new year then they have continued to do well," he said.

"It is easy to get carried away with one or two performances but ultimately it is about players being able to perform consistently for their clubs. If they do that than any speculation regarding their futures at international level will take care of themselves.

"For anyone to be linked with an international is a positive, although I wonder where the speculation is generated.

"But whoever is linked in such a way needs to keep their focus on their own performances at club level week in and week out. If they do that then if they are good enough they will get selected at some point."

Ritchie De Laet and Esteban Cambiasso are fit for the Foxes after they came off against Palace but Matt Upson is still out with a foot injury.

The Foxes are 12th in the Barclays Premier League and unbeaten at home having taking points off Everton, Arsenal and vanquished United.

And with nearly a fully fit squad to pick from Pearson knows Leicester must get results against others in the top flight.

He said: "There is going to be talk in that sort of a vain, I am sure. We are very conscious that, whoever we play, we need to give due respect to. Can we do it against other styles of play? I think yes we can. We proved that last season.

"The pressure to play in some of those so-called big games is probably not as great because other people's expectations probably temper the amount of pressure you are under.

"The scrutiny is slightly different but we are well aware of the fact that we have to pick enough points up against sides who are probably coupled with us in terms of stature etc, those are the sorts of games we need to pick up a lot of points from.

"I think history would bear that out as being an important factor in team's seasons."

Meanwhile, Sean Dyche has faith that Burnley's numbers game will eventually see them come good in the Barclays Premier League.

The Clarets are propping up the table after six matches and are yet to win since returning to the top flight.

Defensively, Dyche's side exceeded expectations by keeping three consecutive clean sheets prior to last weekend's 4-0 capitulation at West Brom, but they have also drawn six successive blanks in all competitions.

A lack of firepower has not been helped by injuries to last year's potent strike pairing of Danny Ings and Sam Vokes but Dyche insists that a dispassionate analysis of Burnley's output so far tells a brighter story than the bare facts of their goal drought.

"We're only under the microscope because we haven't scored since the opening day of the season," he said at a press conference ahead of Saturday's trip to Leicester.

"I've mentioned it many times that it's my job to see through the opinion and the noise as I call it on the outside of it.

"We look at games in many different ways, objectively with the sound down so there is no emotion to it.

"We also debrief with the players and behind all that we have the pro zone stats to work with.

"We look at them and use them for a guide as to how the team is really operating, not the perception of it.

"One example of that is six games into last season, we had 80 efforts at goal and 40 on target.

"This season after six games in the Premier League we've had 72 efforts at goal and 37 on target which is a statistically higher amount.

"We're not a zealot to stats but, as I say, we use them to guide us and if those stats weren't as strong as what they are then we'd start questioning ourselves."

Nathaniel Chalobah is the latest injury casualty after he suffered a kick in the throat during an Under-21 match on Tuesday night.