Town boss Kieran McKenna says Monday’s live-on-Sky game against leaders Leicester City at the King Power Stadium is a “great marker” as the Blues look to climb back to second and make up ground on the Foxes.

Leicester are currently seven points ahead of both Town and Southampton, who moved above the Blues on Saturday on goal difference following their 3-1 win at Swansea City.

The Foxes lost by the same scoreline at Coventry City in their most recent fixture just over a week ago having been reduced to 10 men after Abdul Fatawu’s dismissal on half-time.

But prior to that, they had won their last nine in all competitions aside from the 1-1 draw at Portman Road on Boxing Day.

Town have had the luxury of a midweek without a match, allowing the Blues boss to work with his squad on the training field at length, including a session on the main Portman Road pitch yesterday due to frozen conditions at Playford Road.

“It’s been really good,” he told TownTV. “It’s come at a good time. It’s important to have some time together on the training pitch and we’ve tried to use the time well.

“We’re looking forward to the game now. It’s nice to have that nine-day period after having so many games in quick succession and we can’t wait to get out there on Monday night now.”

At home this season, Leicester have won 11 and lost two of their 13 Championship matches.

The Foxes are the highest scorers in the division, 55, five more than Town, who are third in that table behind Southampton, 53, and have conceded the fewest, 21. Town are ninth in that table having shipped 34.

At home, Leicester have conceded only seven in the Championship, three fewer than anyone else. They have scored 27 times at home, the fifth-highest in the division with Town top of that table on 35.

The Boxing Day clash was a high-quality, entertaining fixture with the Blues perhaps unfortunate not to claim all three points having been the better side in the second half having gone behind in the first.

“Let’s see,” McKenna said when asked whether he was anticipating a similar game on Monday.

“I hope so because we showed that we could compete with them on the night. It took a massive effort from everyone, players and supporters alike, on the night to be able to compete a team of their level.

“But we showed we could do that on the night and that’s the challenge to go and try and show again.

“Of course, we’ve got to do it away from home now. Both teams have had a good look at each other but we’re going to go and try and be competitive again, try and stick true to ourselves and how we play and go and show that we can try and show that we can compete on their pitch and if we do that, hopefully we’ll give ourselves a chance to get a result again.”

The Blues will be backed by more than 3,300 travelling fans at the King Power Stadium.

“I think it’s going to be a really good atmosphere,” McKenna continued. “It’s a lovely stadium, a great pitch and we’ll have a fantastic away support again.

“It’s one to really enjoy. It’s nice to go into it coming off the back of a victory [last week’s 2-1 home win against Sunderland] and it’s a game to go and embrace. A big challenge, probably not many tougher games in the division, but we’re really looking forward to it.

“We’ll go out there and test ourselves and with the away support behind us, it’s a great marker for us to go and rise to that challenge again.”

McKenna will probably stick essentially with the side which beat the Black Cats with Vaclav Hladky in goal.

Harry Clarke looks set to continue at right-back with Leif Davis on the left. Axel Tuanzebe could return for Luke Woolfenden at right centre-half alongside George Edmundson.

In central midfield, if Massimo Luongo isn’t over his ankle injury, Lewis Travis and Jack Taylor are likely to keep their places with skipper Sam Morsy serving the second game of his two-match ban.

Ahead of them, Conor Chaplin is again likely to be the stand-in captain in the middle between Wes Burns and Nathan Broadhead with Marcus Harness an alternative for the left-sided role.

Kayden Jackson looks set to continue as the number nine with Freddie Ladapo having departed for Charlton on Friday, although Broadhead is an option for that role.

Leicester City have lost Cesare Casadei following his recall by Chelsea and could be without midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, the 25-year-old suffered a knock in the incident which led to the Foxes’ penalty - which he converted to claim his ninth goal of the season - in last weekend’s loss at Coventry.

“The only one who is out since the Coventry game is Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, because of the foul he received for the penalty,” manager Enzo Maresca said at a press conference on Thursday.

“He had a problem about that. He has not trained with us until today. We'll see for Monday's game. But at the moment he's out.”

In addition to Casadei and Dewsbury-Hall, five other players are absent with Wilfred Ndidi sidelined until April with a serious muscle injury and Fatawu suspended having been red-carded against the Sky Blues.

Patson Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho are away at the Africa Cup of Nations, with Zambia and Nigeria respectively, and Harry Souttar is playing alongside Town’s Cameron Burgess for Australia at the Asian Cup.

Better news for Maresca, who will watch Monday’s game from the stands as he is subject to a touchline ban after picking up his third yellow card of the season last week, is that veteran striker Jamie Vardy is back in full training and could play a part against the Blues.

As he said prior to last month’s game, Maresca is a big fan of the Blues: “They are an unbelievable team. Last year and this year, you can see what they’ve done.

“They are working with the same manager and same idea for a long time, so that helps a lot. What they do, they do fantastic.”

Regarding his touchline ban, he added: “There is [assistant manager] Willy [Caballero] and [first-team coach] Danny [Walker] on the bench, they are going to be there to help the team the way I do. We don’t have a plan. We have two people there and I’ll be in contact with them.”

Town have just had the upper hand historically, winning 27 games between the sides (27 in the league), drawing 19 (18) and losing 26 (24).

The teams last met at Portman Road on Boxing Day when skipper Morsy’s twice-deflected 93rd-minute strike saw the Blues grab a deserved point as the teams drew 1-1.

Stephy Mavididi gave the visitors a lead in the 24th minute which was a fair reflection of the first half but Town were the better side after the break and were well worth a share of the points, if not more.

The teams last met at the King Power Stadium in February 2014 when David Nugent’s inevitable goal was sandwiched between strikes from Vardy and future Blues loanee Chris Wood as Leicester, also leading the Championship ahead of that match, comfortably beat Town 3-0.

Vardy opened the scoring in the 19th minute, Nugent added the second on 31 - his 14th goal in 13 games against the Blues and sixth in five for Leicester - and Wood completed the scoring two minutes before the end.

Town’s currently injured striker George Hirst signed from Leicester in the summer for £1.5 million following his successful loan spell in the second half of last season.

Hirst made only two senior sub appearances for the Foxes having joined them from Belgian side OH Leuven in the summer of 2019.

Monday’s referee is Josh Smith from Bedfordshire, who has shown 92 yellow cards and five red in 24 games so far this season.

Smith has already taken charge of four Town matches in 2023/24, most recently the 2-2 derby draw at home to Norwich City in which he booked only Woolfenden and Morsy.

Prior to that, he took control of the 1-0 win at Bristol City at the end of October in which he yellow-carded Davis, Morsy, Hirst and Jackson.

He also refereed the 1-0 win at Southampton, in which he cautioned Brandon Williams and Taylor.

Smith was also the man in the middle for the 2-0 home victory over Stoke City in which he yellow-carded Morsy, Hladky, Janoi Donacien and one of the visitors.

Last season, he refereed the 4-4 draw at Charlton in October in which he booked nine players - Morsy, Burns, Christian Walton, Dominic Ball, Tyreece John-Jules and four Addicks - as well as sending off home manager Ben Garner for taking his protests too far following the Blues’ second goal.

Before that, he was in charge of the 4-0 win at Portsmouth in October 2021 in which he cautioned Morsy, George Edmundson and two home players, one of them Harness.

Smith was also in control of the 2-2 home draw with the MK Dons in August 2021 in which he yellow-carded Woolfenden, Kane Vincent-Young and one visiting player.

His only other Town match was the 2-1 EFL Trophy defeat away at Exeter in January 2020 in which he again booked Woolfenden, as well as Toto Nsiala, Will Keane and one Grecian.

Squad from: Hladky, Walton, Clarke, Davis, Humphreys, Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Travis, Luongo, Taylor, Ball, Burns, Chaplin, Broadhead, Harness, Aluko, Hutchinson, Sarmiento, Jackson.

Photo: TWTD

MK1 added 10:36 - Jan 21 Think this game could be made for Jackson. His pace and energy will frighten their back 4. Even a defeat leaves us in a good place. Our run in on paper is a lot, lot easier than Southampton or Leeds. This is the business end of the season, so bring it on.
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dirtydingusmagee added 11:18 - Jan 21 WILL be a tough game, if we get anything from it we will have done well its a shame we have not got a full strength side and no new striker. But the real fight starts here, get this match out of the way and we should be seeing the points coming in , hopefully the Saints will hit their ''bumpy patch '' at some point most teams have one . COYB
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chepstowblue added 11:36 - Jan 21 No better time to be playing them. An extroadinary list of absentees fills me with far more hope than I expected. Whereas I was fearing a similar outcome to the Elland Rd drubbing, I'm now sensing a real opportunity to get a bonus point. But Jackson up front still alarms me, and his mythical pace won't cause Faes to break sweat. If somebody had told me pre-season that he'd be playing anything other than Carabao cup this season I'd never have believed them. Add to that the midfield combo of Taylor and Travis..... obviously two good players, but who looked very much like strangers last week. It's only now that I'm truly appreciating the telepathic understanding that we get from Morsy and Luongo. Whichever three are picked to play behind the striker should always make us a threat. No reason that we shouldn't have a real go against their predicted starting eleven.

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Karlosfandangal added 11:47 - Jan 21 Cant see Town getting anything from this game….will be happy with a draw. As it stands I can see Town getting top 2 but play offs look very much on. A straightforward game against Maidstone next week and after that a full squad back and hopefully some new recruits. So who knows maybe Southampton will do a Sheff Wed in the second half of the season Who knows
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Fat_Boy_Tim added 12:10 - Jan 21 Ffs the Jackson thing again. He’s a blue, he’s one of us, he scored last week. Get behind him and the team.
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barrystedmunds added 12:23 - Jan 21 I would suggest the reason Travis and Taylor appeared to be like “strangers” is because, in footballing terms, they were, Chepstowblue. Travis was barely throu the door and Taylor has been given selected starts since he arrived so to be given the responsibility in the middle of the park I thought they performed well. Hopefully the last nine days have allowed them to forge more of an understanding if they are both selected tomorrow.

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Carberry added 12:27 - Jan 21 Heard enough of this 'great marker', 'good test to see where we are', we are in the top 3 on merit, everyone says so. Let's just appreciate we are good enough and stop underselling ourselves however well it might play into managing expectations. This is a tough fixture particularly without firepower up front. How did we get into this situation? How could we let Ladapo go without cover - that's a schoolboy error, surely?

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Barty added 12:30 - Jan 21 Yip it will be tough but I really fancy us to get something from the game. COYB.
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Bert added 12:42 - Jan 21 The time to make any judgement on Jackson is when he has had a decent run in the team…… if he even gets that with an another striker probably on the way.
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SheptonMalletBlue added 12:48 - Jan 21 Chepstowblue, I always feel very negative after reading your comments!
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DannyITFC added 12:49 - Jan 21 I hope the team can pull off a shock 0-1 away win with Jacko on the counter, but it’s not great planning for on the club to let go a striker when we are already two down when there is no replacement? Hopefully I’m proved wrong and we get someone through the door today but it seems unlikely. This season is a HUGE opportunity of promotion, if we fail to get at least x1 CF it has similarities to that 2014/15 season when you know who beat us in the playoffs semi final…… we can have that again. So come on Ashton, get this (these) deals over the line and not waste the chance we have of top 2 slip away.

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Nomore4 added 13:09 - Jan 21 Perfect time for us to go to the King Power. Loads of players unavailable for them, and the manager watching from the stands. As for Jackson he now needs to step up again, and show that he can score and can perform on a regular basis…..he simply hasn’t done this for 5 years now. However, he really has the ideal opportunity to really stake a starting place, before whoever comes in to compete with him.

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Karlosfandangal added 13:35 - Jan 21 Chepstowblue You could argue that it was Tavis got the Assit for Jackson goal at Sunderland as Chaplin got the faintest of touches
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dirtydingusmagee added 13:51 - Jan 21 i agree with some comments about releasing Freddie,,i 100% trust Mc K ,But it does seem an odd moment to carry it out. Surely would have been wiser to wait till after Leicester match imo. Even if we announce a new striker Monday morning , as whoever it is wouldnt be played , Anyway what will be will be , Lets see if we can maintain our place tomorrow with a result .COYB

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VanDusen added 14:40 - Jan 21 Calm down guys - it's not like we don't have other strikers. As McKenna said last week, Broadhead and Chaplin have played that role at other clubs - even Burns has played as a striker before. And Jackson has proved he can play in the 3 behind too. We have more than enough cover for those positions in Harness, Hutchinson, Sarmiento and Humphreys to allow one of them to play the central role. It's more Hirst has done such a good job carving out a niche role (more akin to a number 10) that has seen him such a permanent fixture that has meant we can't see other options. I am remembering that Murphy had three loan seasons with us without setting the world on fire, until McGoldrick got injured and we all thought we were doomed. Then he played an outstanding game at Brighton and became the best forward we had all decade! Keep the faith regardless of the transfer window.

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 15:14 - Jan 21 Sound words, VanDusen.
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itfckenty added 16:19 - Jan 21 I'll say it once and I'll say it again.. hardly any of our goals have come from our up top striker. That's not our game. Jackson's role will be to hold the ball up and cause issues allowing for space to be created for chappers and co to create scoring opportunities. If Jackson can get on the end of one then that's what he does (like Sunderland) personally, I honestly believe we have it in us to get something from this game. It just all depends on the lads and if they come to take it. And I love the fact everyone is writing us off. It creates less publicity and pressure on the team and just let's us do our thing. COYB

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Carberry added 16:59 - Jan 21 Ah, right, let's not bother signing 2 strikers then, just save a few quid?
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pablo123 added 17:20 - Jan 21 So we're going into this massive game with no new striker !!! Already dropped to third , and bringing in no new blood to carry us to promotion after a brilliant run up to Xmas!!!! Remind you of anything past ?
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Bert added 18:15 - Jan 21 Yes it’s an important game tomorrow but it will not define our season. Lots of twists and turns to come with several in the mix playing each other more than we are.
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jonnysuave added 19:35 - Jan 21 Its obvious we will win, doubt is the enemy, Leicester are overated and their league position unrealistic, They have a good player, he is out.
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pablo123 added 22:04 - Jan 21 Sorry barberry, meant to mark you up mate not down
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pablo123 added 22:05 - Jan 21 #carberry
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Europablue added 23:37 - Jan 21 pablo123 We dropped to 3rd after winning the last match and having not played over the weekend. What is your point exactly? We bring a couple more decent players before the window closes and there are more than enough games for us to overtake Southampton even if we did lose against Leicester.
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BeattiesBackPocket added 00:47 - Jan 22 Chepstowblue you seem to forget as much as they are losing players so are we. In fact our backbone of the side our first choice two central influential midfielders, centre half and striker. Not many sides would manage losing all 4. I personally said before the home game we may suit playing them away more than at home as that’s where they lost all there games before the Coventry game. I’m another that thinks this game away could be great for Jackson on a high after a great finish against Sunderland and hassling their back line all game. COYB’s

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