Shakespeare in history bid

CRAIG Shakespeare is 90 minutes from making history. Victory for his Leicester side over Stoke today will make him the first English manager to win his first four league games in charge.

He would also join an elite band of foreign bosses to do it – Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink, Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola.

Shakespeare, below, hopes that could be an omen as that quartet are all Champions League winners and his Foxes take on Atletico Madrid next week for a place in the semi-finals.

“To even be mentioned in the same breath as those guys is unbelievable,” he said.

“Yes, it has been a dream start, I’d be stupid to say otherwise, but there needs to be a bit of humility thrown in there with that.

“It’s an indication of how well everybody at the club has done. It’s very pleasing for us all but we have to remember that it’s not so long ago that our form was being questioned.”

Three back-to-back wins have pulled the Foxes clear of immediate trouble after their dramatic slide towards the relegation zone. But Shakespeare says anyone thinking they are safe could be in for a rude awakening. “We’re not,” he said. “There are a lot of twists and turns to come yet and we are living proof of that.”

Stoke manager Mark Hughes says he has not had to call a halt to the Dublin dust-up between two of his Stoke stars.

Joe Allen and Glenn Whelan were involved in an ugly clash during Wales’ World Cup Group D clash with Republic of Ireland, but Hughes said: “It is part and parcel of the game.

“People react at times to being clumped. That’s how it is but there is no problem whatsoever.”