PEARSON MAY REST KEY PLAYERS
LEICESTER manager Nigel Pearson won’t rule out fielding a weakened team against Chelsea on Wednesday as he tries to plot another great escape. Victory at Burnley was snatched by Jamie Vardy inside a minute of home player Matt Taylor missing a penalty. Burnley are now bottom and Leicester are out of the drop zone for the first time since November. Their last four games are at home to Newcastle on Saturday then Southampton at home, Sunderland away and home to QPR. But Chelsea come first and Pearson won’t rule out resting key players to focus on tasks further ahead. ‘I will always do what is best for us,’ he said. ‘If we need to freshen it up, we will. David Nugent is injured, Jeff Schlupp is injured, Vardy had an injection in his foot before the game. We will assess it. ‘Our fate is in our hands and the longer we can keep that, the better the chance we have of surviving. All I’m interested in is keeping our players focused on winning.’ Leicester looked certainties for relegation until this run of four wins — their first such streak in the top division since 1966. But Pearson has had a hand in two of the greatest escapes in English football. He was manager at Carlisle United in 1999 when they signed goalkeeper Jimmy Glass, who famously saved them from dropping into the Conference with an injurytime winner. Pearson was also assistant to Bryan Robson in 200405 when West Brom were bottom at Christmas but survived — the first Premier League team to achieve that. Pearson dismissed the notion that his battling spirit has turned things around this time. ‘No two situations are the same,’ he said. ‘The only thing applicable from the different situations is that the players believe and they think every game is important.’ Meanwhile, Hull City manager Steve Bruce praised Dame N’Doye for going against the grain of ‘mercenary’ footballers as the Senegalese scored a crucial double at Selhurst Park to give the Tigers their first victory in seven games and keep them out of the relegation zone. Bruce lured the striker to Humberside from Lokomotiv Moscow on the final day of the January transfer window. ‘I’ve never seen anybody take as big a pay cut as Dame did,’ said Bruce, ‘He wanted to play in England. ‘Footballers are often criticised for being mercenary but he took a substantial wage cut to come and join us. ‘Hopefully he’ll get the money back because if he keeps producing like he did today, he will earn a new contract, either with us or somewhere else.’
BOURNEMOUTH can all but seal promotion to the Premier League this evening and join Watford in the top flight if they win at home against Bolton.