Morgan's arrival leaves Bamba out in the cold.

Sol Bamba may get a shock when he returns to Leicester from the African Cup of Nations. Leicester have won three games on the bounce, keeping three clean sheets. Experienced centre back Wes Morgan is on the verge of signing from local rivals Nottingham Forest for £1 million. Sean St. Ledger has been removed from the transfer list and has performed well in recent games, forging a good relationship with skipper Matt Mills. Mills himself has looked much more comfortable alongside St. Ledger than he did when paired with the unpredictable Bamba. Add into the mix Liam Moore who made put in a decent performace at Crystal Palace earlier in the month and it is hard to see a way back into the team for the Ivory Coast international, Bamba. Five recognised centre backs is an embarrassment of riches, particularly with the impressive Peltier able to provide cover in that position if required.

Central midfield is a concern. King is likely to be out for the remainder of the season, Abe has returned to Japan and Fernandes has also departed. This leaves Wellens, Danns and Drinkwater as the main options in the centre of the park. With Michael Johnson only featuring seven times this season and Moussa conspicuous by his absence, don't be surprised if another central midfielder arrives before tomorrow's transfer deadline. Failing that, surely Pearson will take an experienced central midfielder on loan for the remainder of the season.

City fans feeling yellow about Norwich tie?

Norwich away would certainly have been high on the list of ties that Leicester wanted to avoid this afternoon. At this stage of proceedings, they wanted a home tie against another League Two team, giving them the perfect opportunity to progress to the Quarter Finals. Failing that, a big day out to Anfield, Stamford Bridge or the Emirates would have been an exciting prospect. The worst case scenario - Norwich away. An unfashionable, efficient Premiership team, who offer neither the glamour tie nor the easy passage into round 6.

Having said that, Norwich are sitting 9th in the Premier League and have had a dream season so far. Surely, they are due a hiccup? Will they welcome facing an in-form team who they would be expected to beat? Perhaps in a big cup game, Leicester prefer to be the underdog. Who can forget the FA Cup Quarter Final against Wycombe a decade ago? If Beckford is fit and City maintain the progress of recent weeks, they might just fancy knocking the Canaries off their perch...

Beckford brace fires Foxes into fifth round!

It was by no means Leicester's best performance of the season so far. However, home ties against lower league teams in the FA Cup are all about getting a positive result and that is exactly what Leicester City achieved. Beckford fired City in front in the fifth minute after Mills squared the ball across the penalty area. Swindon dominated the remainder of the first half and, barring a couple of good saves from Schmeichel and some woeful shots from good positions, the visitors might have gone into the break level or even in front.


Beckford scored again early in the second half and Leicester looked comfortable for the remainder of the game. Swindon tired and failed to threaten to the same degree as they managed in the first half. With 11 attempts at goal to Leicester's 8, Di Canio's side will feel unlucky not to have at least forced a replay. Leicester will be in the hat for the 5th round and will be optimistic about their chances of progressing further, particularly with both Manchester clubs having made early exits. With 3 successive wins, 3 successive clean sheets, 8 goals for and Beckford keen to improve his impressive record in the competition, Leicester will fear nobody. A home draw against anybody remaining in the competition would do, Crawley or Stevenage would be perfect....

Fiery Foxes outgun sloppy Saints!

This evening's victory at Southampton was comfortably Leicester's best performance, and result, of the season so far. Completely dominant in the first half, with at least seven good attempts on goal, the 2-0 half-time lead was well deserved. City were sharp, focussed, organised and gave the home team absolutely no time to settle into their game plan. As a result, Southampton, who sit second in the Championship table, looked disorganised, lacklustre and frankly shell-shocked.

The two goals were exquisite in their own way. After 15 minutes, Mills picked out a defence splitting pass to put Nugent through down the left flank. The former Pompey striker, who seemed to relish the abuse he received from his former club's nearest neighbours, cut inside and curled a perfect finish into the bottom corner.

Ten minutes later, the two centre backs combined, as St. Ledger beat his man down the left wing to cross for Mills. The Leicester captain stooped to power a header into the back of the net. Leicester looked comfortable for the remainder of the game. Konchesky almost put the icing on the cake when his free-kick rattled the bar shortly after the hour mark. With over 17 attempts at goal, you would be hard pushed to say that City's victory wasn't richly deserved.

Two victories from their two televised games over the last six days, with two clean sheets and six goals scored, things are certainly looking up for Leicester. Pearson is starting to make them tick...

It's a funny old game!

Football can be a very strange game. On Saturday, Leicester City were embarrassed by Barnsley, in what could hardly have been a poorer performance. Disjointed, weak, lacking in quality. Three days later, on the same ground, they take their fiercest rivals apart with a fabulous performance. 4-0 was the scoreline but 11-1 in terms of efforts on target might have been a more accurate representation of the game. So what was the difference?

Pearson went back to what he knows best, 4-4-2. City played with tempo and purpose. Passes were played with conviction and accuracy. The ball wasn't simply pumped forward aimlessly but was slid in to Beckford's feet, giving him the opportunity to run on to the ball. Beckford looked eager, interested, hungry to succeed. Instead of chasing long balls or standing with his back to goal, passes were slipped into his path and flicked past defenders. As a result, he looked like a different animal. Beckford became the first City striker to score a hat-trick in an East Midlands derby since 1948. Not bad for a player who wasn't in the team just three days ago...

Money can't buy you love!

The Thai owners must have been shrinking into their plush blue seats this afternoon. A dismal performance and an awful result. Nugent hopelessly isolated on his own up front, the midfield looked stale and Mills continued to make the defensive errors that have plagued the season so far. As for leadership, drive, passion, initiative and, dare I say, skill - all of these qualities were non-existant this afternoon. Booed off at half-time, booed off at full-time, Gallagher booed off when he was substituted, fans streaming out of the ground with 5 minutes still to play. Not a brilliant advert for the club. A long, hard road lies ahead of Leicester City. Lying 15th in the table, Pearson is going to have a difficult job persuading any quality players to join the club in this transfer window.

Pearson said after the game that he didn't have the players to put out a 4-4-2 formation. This must surely spell the end for Beckford, who sat on the bench while Nugent had an ineffective game, with no support, in a 4-5-1 formation. Here's hoping for a distracting cup run, City fans certainly need and deserve something to cheer them up!

Beckford isn't sharp enough, Billy may well be...

Jimmy Kebe, Billy Sharp and Matt Fryatt (remember him?) all absent from FA Cup 3rd round action this afternoon. All of them linked with Leicester in recent weeks. After today's bore draw and another far from inspirational performance from Mr. Beckford, Sharp cannot arrive quickly enough. Add to this Schlupp's injury today, and striking options look thin on the ground.

An interesting comment from Pearson after the game about Beckford's performance, "We'll get more out of him." What a sad reflection on a £2m player brought on as a substitute on FA Cup 3rd day. Beckford isn't sharp enough, Billy may well be.

New Year, new formation, new players on the way...

A fabulous start to the New Year for Leicester City. A win against a good team, above us in the table. A new formation, 3-5-2, as a result of injuries and poor recent form. Tunchev looked short of match fitness but will get stronger as the season progresses. The two wing-backs performed well in Kennedy and Moore. Kennedy was man of the match for City, a player signed by Pearson during his previous spell at the club. This bodes well for the new additions that are sure to arrive at the club over the course of this month!