VARDY’S AN EVERGREEN FOX IN BOX

HULL 2 LEICESTER 2

Championship

JAMES JUSTIN heaped praise on evergreen Jamie Vardy as he seeks to fire Leicester to an immediate return to the top flight.

Vardy, 37, is the Foxes’ top scorer with 13 in 26 appearances as the team top the Championship with nine games to go.

Full-back Justin said: “You know what you’re going to get. Despite his age, he’s still got bags of ability and talent, still got pace as well. He knows how to score a goal, that is why he is up top.”

Vardy (above) has scored Leicester’s last three goals from which they took four points.

The Tigers twice took the lead at the MKM Stadium with Vardy hauling his team level with a firsthalf penalty and an instant response to the hosts’ second.

It leaves Leicester three points clear of second-placed Leeds and four ahead of Ipswich in third.

The Yorkshire side could leapfrog them at the top this Sunday if they beat Millwall by two clear goals with Leicester in FA Cup quarter-final action at Chelsea.

With the international break following the cup game, Leicester do not play again in the league until Good Friday on March 29.

Given they were 12 points clear in mid-February before losing three straight games, Vardy believes the point against the Tigers could prove valuable.

“It’s a point in the right direction,” he said. “You don’t want to be losing so we get that point, we’ll take it away.

“Obviously FA Cup now and then international break, we’ll make sure we’re prepared for our game back against Bristol City.”

It was the Tigers’ fourth straight draw as they dropped out of the play-offs with Norwich leapfrogging them on goal difference.

They also do not have a game until Good Friday – Stoke at home.

Anass Zaroury enjoyed a standout performance, forcing Wout Faes to lose possession as Fabio Carvalho put the Tigers ahead.

Zaroury then scored his second since arriving on loan from Burnley last month after failing to become a regular for the Clarets.