Leicester City: Marc Albrighton makes promotion claim amid growing Leeds United and Ipswich Town pressure | OneFootball

Marc Albrighton has claimed that Leicester City’s promotion charge was never going to be easy.

The Foxes have suffered a recent dip in form that has caused the gap between the chasing pack behind them to close to just four points.

Leeds United and Ipswich Town both play this weekend while Enzo Maresca’s side competes in the FA Cup, which could see just one point separate the top three if they both earn victories.

While Leicester will hold a game in hand over their rivals after this weekend, the pressure could be piled on going into the March international break, particularly with that game in-hand against fourth-placed Southampton.

The Leicestershire outfit had looked certain to gain a top two spot in the Championship earlier this season, but just one win in their last five has raised doubts over their automatic promotion credentials.

Marc Albrighton makes Leicester promotion admission

Albrighton has admitted that the team was very spoiled by the extended winning run that started the club’s campaign in the second division.

He believes the recent string of poor results is a fairer reflection of the difficulty of succeeding in the Championship.

“We were spoilt a little bit at the start of the season with win after win,” said Albrighton, via the When You’re Smiling podcast.

“It was never going to be that easy throughout the whole season.

“We have got ourselves in a great position and this is the point of the season where we really need to dig deep and see it through.”

Leicester have earned a break from league action this weekend, having qualified for the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Maresca’s side visits Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea on 17 March, with the winner set to go to Wembley Stadium for the semi-finals.

The two sides meet in a 12.45pm kick-off in a repeat of the 2021 final of this competition.

Leicester City league position

Meanwhile, Leicester could lose their first place position at the top of the Championship table this weekend.

A two-goal winning margin for Leeds United in their clash against Millwall will see Daniel Farke’s side move ahead in the standings.

Ipswich Town can also close the gap to within a point when they meet Sheffield Wednesday at Portman Road on Saturday.

With nine games to go, the race for both automatic promotion places remains quite close, with Southampton also only nine points adrift but with a game in hand.

Leicester don’t return to the league until their trip to Bristol City on 29 March.

Leicester can’t afford any more slip-ups

Leeds and Ipswich have done well to take advantage of Leicester’s recent dip in form, and we now have a real tussle on our hands for both automatic promotion spots.

The Foxes had looked certain to win the title, but now they stand a chance of falling into the play-off places.

That would be quite disappointing for the team and would jeopardise their chances of promotion.

Failure to gain promotion would be quite catastrophic, especially amid the questions surrounding potential FFP breaches, so the pressure is well and truly on to turn around their current form.