Smalling not taking Leicester for granted

Defending Premier League champions Leicester may be facing into the harsh realities of a relegation battle, but Man United defender Chris Smalling is taking nothing for granted when the two sides clash tomorrow at the King Power Stadium.

United sit sixth in the table and are chasing down a four-point deficit on Man City ahead of them, while Leicester are languishing 16^th in the table, just two points ahead of the drop.

"Yes, I think I am (surprised by where they are right now) and I think a lot of people are," said the defender, who opened the scoring when United beat them 4-1 at Old Trafford in September.

"Whether they were going to be challenging for the title again or not, I'd expect them to be higher than they are. But I don't think we can forget their qualities which made them the champions, the current champions, so I think we need to be more wary of their potential threats and what they did last year rather than the situation they find themselves in now."

Jamie Vardy, Leicester’s goal machine last year, has failed to ignite in front of goal this season, but his England team-mate Smalling still views him as a potential threat.

"Whether or not he's on a roll of scoring however many goals last season, I think he's someone who will always give his all for the team.

"And no matter their situation or how many goals he's scored, he won't let it rest. You know that when you've got the ball, you'll have a few seconds less than you would in the majority of games."

United’s defence this season has been interchangeable between Smalling, Phil Jones, Eric Bailly, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo and Smalling revealed that the group are used to mixing and matching in training.

"I think in training we're often playing with different partners and in any given game you never know what sort of forwards you're going to be up against," Smalling told MUTV.

"I think a lot of that understanding is based around our training and what we do on a daily basis but I feel very comfortable with all of them and likewise they all feel comfortable because we play with each other every day."

Photo: Getty/Laurence Griffiths

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