‘We’re proving to everyone out there that we’re a great team’

LEICESTER City may look like they are overachieving but the squad feel they are merely meeting the high expectations of themselves.

City currently sit third in the Premier League and are well in the race for Champions League qualification, while they are two victories from glory in the FA Cup.

By sitting above some higherprofile sides in the table, and by progressing further than them in the cup, outsiders may feel like City are surpassing what is expected of them.

But left-back Luke Thomas says the squad know the quality they have, and their current standing in both competitions is evidence of what they can achieve regularly.

“It’s been a great season for us as a team,” he said. “I think we’re starting to achieve the targets that we’re expected to reach. We’re proving to everyone out there that we’re a great team.

“Being in Europe and getting to the semi-finals of the FA Cup – something which the club hasn’t been able to do for a very long time – shows that we’re making good progress.

“We’ve still got plenty of games left in the league and we know we need to finish strong, but at this moment in time it all looks really positive.

“We’ve got a good mentality, we’re in a good patch of form at the moment and want to keep that going for as long as possible.” The next 10 days will be vital in City achieving their targets, with the club travelling to top-four rival West Ham on Sunday before facing Southampton in the FA Cup semifinal a week later.

Only this weekend’s clash at the London Stadium is on the mind of manager Brendan Rodgers, left, and he does not want his side to lose sight of their aim by believing they are already in the top four.

“Every game we want to win,” Rodgers said. “There’s pressure in every game for us.

“The players have coped with that really well.

“People talk about the top four but I’ll repeat that we’re not in the top four until the 38th game of the season.

“We’ve been terrific up until this point, but to arrive and finish as high as you can you’ve got to win games and you’ve got to perform.

“(Against Man City) it wasn’t for us, but in the main, the players have been outstanding.”