Europe is No.1 aim
VARDY PREFERS PLACE IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TO GOLDEN BOOT WIN
LEICESTER City could finish the season with silverware if Jamie Vardy wins the Golden Boot – but finishing in the Champions League places rather than topping the scoring charts is the priority for the striker.
Vardy, below, currently leads the way with 22 league goals this season. With four games to go, he is two clear of Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and three ahead of Liverpool’s Mo Salah.
All three contenders have been on the scoresheet this week. Salah bagged a brace in Liverpool’s 3-1 win at Brighton on Wednesday night. Aubameyang put the Gunners ahead against Leicester on Tuesday evening but Vardy netted a late equaliser to earn the Foxes a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium.
Brendan Rodgers’ men are fourth in the table and in contention for a Champions League spot – and that is Vardy’s top priority. He told City’s official website: “Obviously (I’m) delighted to finish that one off, (but) no, you don’t have to look at anything like that. At the end of the day it’s all about putting performances in for the club and picking up as many points as possible.
“I’ve said before, it doesn’t really matter who scores, as long as we are picking those points up.
“We got the win at the weekend (against Crystal Palace) so we wanted to keep that momentum going and we picked up a point, so now it’s back into training and focusing for next week.”
Reflecting on the Arsenal game, Vardy added: “I think it was just important to get a result. We started the game well, I think when we’ve gone 1-0 down, we started panicking a bit.
“It was just all about being patient and we’ve nicked one at the end and managed to get a draw out of it.
“So it was about coming back out for that second half 100 per cent focused and showing what we can do. Obviously them going down to 10 men, it means they work even harder to try and make that man up.
“We just knew we had to stick to our plan, keep moving the ball as quick as possible to get them running and try to tire them out a bit.
“It was just all about being patient and we’ve nicked one at the end and managed to get a draw out of it.
“(We) definitely (feel) pride getting back into the game. And then after that, we’ve tried going on to get a win. (It) just wasn’t to be.”
Leicester are back in action away to