THERE’S NO POINTJUST SCORING
Vardy says he’d sacrifice his goals for a few wins
JAMIE VARDY says Leicester’s need for points is “massive” and insists his goals count for little when the Foxes don’t win.
Striker Vardy, 30, has five Premier League goals this term but missed a vital penalty in last Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat by Liverpool.
He has still been on target in Leicester’s last three top-flight matches against Chelsea, Huddersfield and Jurgen Klopp’s Reds.
Vardy, who has six goals in 17 England games, was left out by Gareth Southgate for the final two World Cup qualifiers due to a nagging hip problem.
But he intends to play through the pain today as 17thplaced Leicester seek a timely boost before the international break.
Craig Shakespeare’s men have just four points following narrow defeats by Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Vardy said: “It’s always good to get goals but the points are the main thing. We’ve only got four on the board up to now. Bournemouth’s massive for us.
“If we can get the win there it’s a good three points before we get a little break with the internationals.
“We’re playing well, we’re just not getting any points – so I think it’s time we started playing well and picking up points.
“As a group, we’ve just been saying we can’t go into each game needing to score four or five goals to win.
“As a team, we’re aiming to pull it together so there’s no breakaways against us or making it easy for teams.
“I know we’ve had some tough games – but every game is tough in this league. We just need to knuckle down and get those points.”
Vardy’s strike partner Shinji Okazaki, 31, is also in lively form with four goals so far this season in all competitions.
The Japan international said: “I wasn’t scoring a lot before but I am now and I feel a lot better, a lot more confident.
“I haven’t done anything much different but I’ve been here for a few years and I’ve been trying to get closer to goal.
“But we still only have four points and it makes the match against Bournemouth very important.
“It’s difficult but we have overcome this sort of problem in the past.”