Leicester City vs Manchester City - Albrighton confident Leicester will bounce back against City

Posted Monday, December 28, 2015 by PA

Marc Albrighton insists Leicester can hit back against Manchester City and warned their title rivals the Foxes will refuse to surrender.

They host City on Tuesday after suffering just a second defeat of the season at Liverpool on Boxing Day.

The Foxes remain top of the Barclays Premier League by two points as Arsenal blew their chance to move to the summit when they lost 4-0 at Southampton.

Saturday's defeat ended Leicester's nine-match unbeaten run and was their first loss on the road since March but Albrighton believes it is a chance to assess their title credentials.

"We see this as a test. There will probably be a lot of pundits and media that might think now we are going to lie down and relax with our 30-something points," said the winger.

"We're not a side to do that. We've got Manchester City on Tuesday and we look forward to bouncing back against them.

"To be honest, I don't think we will play another game this season with pressure. We've got ourselves in a brilliant situation and we are doing fantastic. Everyone was tipping us to be down there at the start of the season, but we're right in the mix and we deserve to be where we are."

Danny Simpson also expects a response from Claudio Ranieri's side, who could have Danny Drinkwater back after a hamstring injury, after Christian Benteke's winner at Anfield.

The boyhood Manchester United fan is eager to face City and believes it is the perfect game following a defeat.

"No-one likes losing, we showed that from the end of last season and we will fight to the end," the right-back told Foxes Player. "We always believe we can win every game and that's not going to change because we got beaten. The manager said to us to keep going and we have a great team and squad.

"They are a great team, the players they have got are world class but there's nothing better than to come up against some of their players at home after a defeat. We'll react in the right way.

"I know the kind of players we have in our dressing room. I'm pretty sure the fans will see us from the whistle on Tuesday getting straight into them."

Jamie Vardy is expected to shrug off a virus to be fully fit for the game. The Barclays Premier League's 15-goal top scorer played despite being ill at Anfield and was taken off to preserve him, while Riyad Mahrez was also substituted to keep him fresh.

Jeff Schlupp (hamstring) remains sidelined.

Meanwhile, Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini is convinced Leicester have what it takes to stay the course in the title race.

Pellegrini has warned his players they must approach the trip to the King Power Stadium as they would any other top-of-the-table showdown.

Pellegrini said: "Before that they beat Chelsea and drew against (Manchester) United.

"We must consider Leicester not thinking that they lost on Saturday and could collapse, but as a team that will have options to be fighting for the title until the end. With that mentality we must try to play the game.

"They are top of the table because they deserve to be. They have important players in a very good moment with high performance."

City got back on track against Sunderland after a disappointing loss to Arsenal last Monday.

The gloss was taken off that victory, however, by the loss of captain Vincent Kompany with a recurrence of a calf injury just nine minutes after coming on for his first appearance in nine games.

City are again likely to be without the key defender although the full extent of the problem is not yet clear.

The other main concern is striker Sergio Aguero, who looked ineffectual on his return from a heel injury against Arsenal and did not get off the bench in the Sunderland game.

But Pellegrini said: "Kun was on the bench because if we needed him he could have played in the second half, but we have to play Leicester three days later - a difficult game - and 10 games during January.

"He had a small problem so I think it was better not to take any risk and we were winning 3-0 at half-time, so I think it was better for him to rest. He will be 100 per cent on Tuesday."