Leicester City’s defence of the Premier League title has seen them brought back down to Earth in recent months, but Claudio Ranieri insists the mental application of his side remains unchanged.

The Foxes have had a rude awakening to life at the top, just two points clear of the relegation zone in 16th place after a tough Premier League opening.

But with a place in the Champions League last 16 already secured even before Wednesday night’s visit to Porto, the Italian manager is desperate to reassure that it’s not all doom and gloom.

And Ranieri is adamant that the club is continuing the mindset that brought them their surprise glory, feeling it’s only a matter of time before form and results pick up.

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“We are involved with a lot of teams in the battle, but that is something Leicester is used to, that’s what the club had to do a couple of seasons ago,” he said.

“The mentality is the same, you have to be positive and give 100 per cent on the pitch and you have to train well. I’m very happy with my players because they try to do their best.

“At this moment it is difficult because we’re training well and losing, but if we continue to stick together then that momentum will change.

“We are professionals, when you play well and win the critics are positive, but when you lose they are negative – for us it’s about keeping the balance and in the middle.”

Chelsea’s ruthless finishing and counter-attacking play were key in turning what looked like a defeat into victory at Manchester City on Saturday, but club legend Pat Nevin insists the speed of Chelsea’s frontman is what did the trick.

Antonio Conte’s side notched up their eighth straight victory in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium, with second-half strikes from Diego Costa, Willian and Eden Hazard cancelling out Gary Cahill’s own goal.

That extended Chelsea’s lead at the table summit to three points, and with a strike force so pacey Nevin – a fans’ favourite during his time at the club in the 1980’s when he made almost 200 appearances – believes the Blues will be striking fear into all of their Premier League opponents.

“The clinical and even surgical nature of the way City were opened up in that second half was mightily impressive,” he said.

“Enough has been said about Diego and Eden but that will not stop me saying there were moments of world-class play from both. Their pace plus that of course of Pedro and Willian was bordering on unstoppable.

“You don’t always realise the speed those guys move at, even in comparison with other Premier League players.

“Pedro looks fast anyway – those legs move like the roadrunner from the old cartoons. Willian speeding away to score his goal maybe raised an eyebrow or two but we know he is quick also and he looks it.

“Eden Hazard at the moment when he turns on the afterburners crushes defenders’ spirits, and that’s before his skills are utilised.

“The surprise of course to some degree is Diego. Once again we know he is quick but with his physique, power, size and walking style come on be honest, you’re amazed he is that quick. I know I am.”

Andy Robertson has promised to help lift the gloom that has descended onto the KCOM Stadium after Middlesbrough dished Hull City a hammer blow in their fight to avoid relegation on Monday night.

Hull looked content to soak up the pressure and play for a point before Gaston Ramirez caught the visitors napping from a corner to head home on the hour.

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It catapulted Middlesbrough four points clear of Hull, who now only lie above Swansea in the Premier League table.

But defender Robertson believes his side can recover against Crystal Palace this weekend – as long as they do not cower away from taking their chances.

“In the first half against Middlesbrough we needed to be braver with the ball and pick our passes better,” admitted Robertson.

“We saw one pass from Markus Henriksen that had ‘Dio’ (Adama Diomande) through on goal and that is how easy it can be.

“Dio had a great shot near the end which was saved and was then unlucky not to turn one in at the back post to snatch a draw.

“The boys were gutted in the dressing room on Monday night. We were undone by a set piece and that defined the game.

“But overall we know that the performance was not good enough and we need to dust ourselves down. We need to be ten times better against Crystal Palace on Saturday.”

Everton centre-back Ramiro Funes Mori has revealed he’s desperate for more minutes after making only his fifth Premier League start of the season on Sunday.

The Argentine got the nod from Blues manager Ronald Koeman ahead of club captain Phil Jagielka for the 1-1 draw against Manchester United this weekend.

The frantic festive season schedule, which sees Everton are set to play five further matches in December, could present him with more opportunities.

And Funes Mori confessed that he found readjusting to the pace of the Premier League challenging after a stop-start campaign to date.

“It’s been a while since I played. I had to wait for my chance to be a part of the team,” he said.

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“I went in for this game and it was nice to play. I always try to do my best, on and off the pitch.

“It was hard to get the rhythm of the game – it was tough and Manchester United are a good team that play with good tempo.

“I felt a little bit tired at the end but I just need to get more games and more playing time.

“Every time I want to be in the starting 11. I wasn’t starting but I kept my focus, kept training and I got my opportunity.”

Jurgen Klopp may have spent over £60m on fresh talent at Liverpool over the summer but Reds striker Robbie Fowler insists he is the perfect coach to help youngster Ben Woodburn become a first-team player.

Woodburn announced himself at Anfield by becoming the club’s youngest-ever goal scorer against Leeds United last month, a handful of days after making his Premier League debut against Sunderland.

Liverpool’s recent history of promoting young players into the first team is bleak, with Steven Gerrard the last to establish himself long-term.

But Fowler, who broke into Liverpool’s first team aged 18, believes Klopp is the right man to guide Woodburn’s career.

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“From everything I’ve heard he’s a really level-headed lad and it helps when you’re a good player,” he said.

“He’s been prolific in all the age groups he’s played in and he’s come in and scored a good goal. His movement was excellent.

“It’s important now that he gets well looked after. The players and staff at Liverpool know that and they stop you from getting a bit too big for your boots, but it’s fantastic for him and we shouldn’t get away from that.

“You could see how much it meant to him when he scored, you could see the joy on his face, and it obviously meant a lot to the other lads as well as you saw when the camera panned to the bench.

“I think he’ll be well looked after because Jurgen is very astute when it comes to handling young players and doing what’s right for them.”

Adam Clayton was, by his own admission, “a bit of a psycho” when it came to checking the league table last season but believes his new approach this term is already paying dividends.

The midfielder ardently checked the standings as Middlesbrough secured automatic promotion from the Championship by finishing ahead of Brighton on goal difference last year but claims he has no interest in the current Premier League state of play.

If he were to break his vow, Clayton would see Boro sitting in a healthy 13th position, with 15 points from their first 14 games following Monday night’s 1-0 win over 19th-placed Hull City.

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The Teessiders are still only four points clear of the drop but despite Saturday wins for struggling Sunderland and Crystal Palace leaving Boro precariously above the relegation zone prior to the Hull clash, Clayton is adamant that didn’t affect his mindset.

“I didn’t feel any added pressure – I haven’t really looked at the league table this year,” explained the 27-year-old.

“Last year I was a bit of a psycho, so I’ve changed my approach – I’m not focused on the league table, I’m just focused on getting three points.

“Three points in this league is massive and if you can get them, they can change everything. I think we’re in a good position now.

“Hopefully we can go to Southampton next week, put in a good performance and get something out of it.”

Crystal Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey says the Eagles players worked “really hard” at set pieces ahead of their 3-0 win over Southampton.

Palace’s conceded several sloppy goals from set plays in their 5-4 defeat to Swansea the week before, their sixth Premier League loss in a row.blitzed

However, the Eagles returned to winning ways with a comprehensive victory over the Saints at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

And Hennessey said the team worked tirelessly in training ahead of the game in order to stamp out routine defensive mistakes.

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“We worked a hell of a lot last week,” the stopper said. “We had Tuesday off but then we had a three-day lead up into the game.

“We just needed to nail down a few things, so we worked really hard. We looked over the goals conceded at Swansea and they were all little mistakes.

“We needed to be a lot more solid and a lot more resolute to try and keep clean sheets. I really hope we can do that now.

“On defending corners, we went over them so hard. I think in one session we must have had around 30-odd corner situations or something.

“We all needed to know where each man was and it was a case of ‘don’t let your man score’. Then I’ve got myself and to keep sorting people out in the box, have someone on the back post etc.

“You could tell it worked as it paid off.”

Former Premier League striker Jason Roberts says Swansea City look like “a relegated side” after their 5-0 demolition at the hands of Tottenham on Saturday.

Bob Bradley secured his first Premier League win as Swans boss in dramatic style on November 26 with a 5-4 win over Crystal Palace at the Liberty Stadium.

However, Bradley’s side could not carry this momentum into Saturday’s match at White Hart Lane, as braces from Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen and a Son Heung-Min effort condemned the visitors to their ninth loss of the season.

Swansea have shipped 31 goals in their 14 games so far, and are rock bottom of the division with nine points.

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Former West Bromwich Albion, Wigan Athletic, Blackburn Rovers and Reading frontman Roberts feels Swansea need to examine the impact of American coach Bradley, who has one win from seven games in charge since taking over from Francesco Guidolin in October.

Roberts said: “I think they’re at the point where they’ve got to start looking at Bob Bradley.

“Even the game they won, they still conceded four goals. (At Tottenham) it could have been any score.

“Sometimes you have shadow play in training, and that’s exactly what it looked like – no-one got tight, no-one got upset when the goal went in.

“Swansea are in serious trouble and on these performances – including last week when they won – they look like a relegated side.”

Leicester City may have already qualified for the Champions League knockout stages but captain Wes Morgan is targeting an unbeaten pool stage.

The contrast between the Foxes’ Premier League and European form has been well documented and Wednesday’s match against FC Porto will be Leicester’s last in Europe until February.

Summer signing Islam Slimani’s goal was the difference between the Premier League champions and FC Porto when the two teams met in September in a narrow victory.

And while manager Claudio Ranieri has said that City’s focus must now be on moving up the Premier League table, Morgan isn’t willing to let their unbeaten European record go without a fight.

“We want to go there and still put in a good performance to try and get a good result, but at the same time we haven’t got the pressure on us of needing to get a win,” he said.

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“That’s a nice position to be in, so we can go out there and enjoy the game.

“It is good to say that we’ve qualified with a game to spare – we’d have no doubt taken that at the beginning of our campaign, so it’s fantastic to be in that position and hopefully we can continue the good work.

“Remaining unbeaten will be a big boost and I’m sure teams will look at us as a big threat, so we definitely want to pick up a result. We’ll try our best to do that.”

Anthony Martial believes Manchester United need to show a strong mindset if they are to emerge from Thursday’s visit to Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk with the point they need to progress in the Europa League.

United expended little energy in cruising to a 1-0 win when the two sides met at Old Trafford in September, and a win on Thursday could see Jose Mourinho’s men qualify as group winners.

But Martial anticipates a radically different experience from the reverse fixture, with sub-zero temperatures and a vociferous home crowd likely to serve as backdrop to proceedings.

The 21-year-old Frenchman said: “It is very different – not just the supporters but the weather! Over there, it’s really cold at this time of the season.

“But it’s down to us to come to terms with that, adapt to the environment we find ourselves in and get the victory we need.

“You prepare as well as you can and rest on the plane, but a lot of it can be in your head. It’s how you approach things mentally. It’s about what happens on the pitch; if you do your stuff out there, that’s what counts.”