We can take confidence from Cup glory - Ricardo

LEICESTER City will take confidence from their FA Cup glory when they welcome Chelsea to the King Power Stadium tomorrow (12.30pm kick-off), writes Jordan Blackwell.

City may be hosting the Premier League leaders and reigning European champions, but knowledge that they have the quality to get the better of Thomas Tuchel’s side should stand them in good stead, full-back Ricardo Pereira believes.

Thanks to Youri Tielemans’ brilliant strike, Kasper Schmeichel’s superb save from Mason Mount, and a late VAR decision, City beat the Blues to win the famous trophy for the first time in May.

However, they did lose the Premier League meeting at Stamford Bridge a few days later.

“We know it’s going to be very tough,” Ricardo told LCFC. “They are showing great qualities this year and deservedly sit at the top of the league. Chelsea are always a difficult team to play, but especially at the moment with the momentum and quality they have.

“We’ve beaten Chelsea before, so we know we have the ability.”

Ricardo goes into tomorrow afternoon’s fixture as a City centurion, having made his 100th appearance for the club in the 1-1 draw with Leeds last time out.

Injuries have stopped the Portuguese from reaching the milestone as quickly as he might have done, with three years passed since he first signed from Porto, but he still says it’s been a whirlwind period at the King Power Stadium.

“It feels really good to have reached 100 games for this club,” he added. “It feels like I only arrived yesterday, as everything has happened very quickly and I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m very happy about reaching this achievement.”