Vardy: Ranieri doesn't let me practice shooting

The England international said that Ranieri prefers to do his finishing work early in the week while Vardy is meant to be resting after the forward took his Premier League tally to 21 this term.

"So normally, when there's a bit of shooting, the gaffer tells me to go inside! I'll keep doing that if it means I'm saving my legs – and goals – for games."

Jamie Vardy's goalscoring form has been so good this season, Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri does not let him practice shooting.

The England international said that Ranieri prefers to do his finishing work early in the week while Vardy is meant to be resting after the forward took his Premier League tally to 21 this term.

"I don't really get the chance to practise that much on my finishing because we have our shooting drills early in the week when the gaffer's wanting me to rest my legs," Vardy said.

"So normally, when there's a bit of shooting, the gaffer tells me to go inside! I'll keep doing that if it means I'm saving my legs – and goals – for games."

Ranieri's approach is not exactly traditional, but neither are his results.

Leicester is runaway favourites to clinch a maiden Premier League title after starting the season rated as 5000-1 odds for the big prize, leading the title race by seven points with five games to play.

Vardy's goals - he scored a brace in Sunday's 2-0 win over Sunderland - have been crucial to that effort, but the Englishman was keen to give praise to Danny Drinkwater in midfield.

The former Manchester United prodigy enjoys a good working relationship with Vardy, and the English forward is happy to have such a reliable supply line from midfield.

"'Drinky' knows exactly where I'm going to be," said Vardy.

"He doesn't have to look most of the time. As long as I know the rough area where it's going to go, I'll be on my bike and chasing the ball down."

The feeling is mutual.

"The majority of time you don't need to look for Jamie," Drinkwater said.

"You just know he's going to be on the move and that, with his pace, if the pass is right, it's going to cause defenders problem. It works, it scores us goals, so why stop?"

And Drinkwater said there is nothing special about Leicester.

"There isn't a secret to us," Drinkwater said. "It's just that we're a bunch of lads that get along. We're all willing to work hard for each other on the pitch.

"It shows by how well we graft out results. If stuff's not going well, we still manage to win games."