Leicester boss Enzo Maresca says Town are fantastic and he really enjoys watching them.

Maresca’s table-topping Foxes face the second-placed Blues for the first time this season at Portman Road this evening.

“They are unbelievable,” he told his club’s website. “They are doing fantastically well, a fantastic job.

“To be honest, it’s one of the teams that I really enjoy to watch. They are fantastic. It’s probably the one team in the Championship who are doing better, because they are there with us. We are doing well, but when you see the table, they are just there.

“You can see that there is some magic inside that sometimes happen when teams get promoted from League One and then they get promoted again from the Championship to the Premier League because they maintain the same manager, the same magic inside.

“They are going to be more upset [after losing 4-0 at Leeds]. In any case, it’s a chance for us to go nine points [clear] but it’s also a chance for them to [close the gap to] three points. But I really think that for us, between today [Saturday] and Tuesday, it was much more important [to win at home to Rotherham, 3-0] than Tuesday.

“We are expecting a tough game because they are very good and have some good players. What they do, they do fantastically.

“They have an advantage, that they work with the same manager already for more than one year. They know each other very well and they are altogether.

“In terms of feeling, it is much easier for a team that are promoted to continue than a team that were relegated to build something new, no doubt.

“In terms of psychology, it is easier for the team that is in behind knowing that you seem close. Mentally, it’s normal. But we are happy with the position that we are in.”

Regarding his team’s performance at the season’s halfway point, Maresca, who took charge in June following the Foxes’ relegation from the Premier League, added: “I’m very happy. I didn’t expect when we started the season to be on this number of points after the first half, but I don’t think anyone expected that, because winning 19 of 23 games is not easy. It’s going to be more important the moment that we reach our target.

“We have many things that we need to improve. We are learning how to face teams when they sit back or high press. We need to continue in this way because we are almost in January.

“With the players, it’s very easy. They know I’m quite straight and quite clear. If I see that some of them drop, they don’t play. It’s like this, first of all, because the club, the fans and the opponent all need respect, so you cannot drop.

“Now we take some days because we have no time to sit and think. We have a game in two days and then a game in two days and another in two days. Probably in January we will have more time to sit and to think about the amount of points we have and what we need.

“In this moment, we have an amount of points which means we can continue to go with the same intensity to continue to win games. If we can reach our target as soon as possible, then that’s better. There’s no step back, absolutely not, because the season is still long.”

Photo: Matchday Images

IpswichT62OldBoy added 15:57 - Dec 26 Exciting times, decent managers speaking with respect about our club. I wish it was a 3.00pm kick off
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Flamencaman added 16:06 - Dec 26 Good result at Preston
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chorltonskylineblue added 18:01 - Dec 26 “They have an advantage, that they work with the same manager already for more than one year. They know each other very well and they are altogether." I'm sure the £40m+ parachute payment helps combat that Enzo
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