Ranieri demands Leicester focus on the present not past

REUTERS - Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri has urged his players to forget their fairytale run to the Premier League title last season and be wary of dropping into the relegation zone in this campaign.

Ranieri's side, who are two points above the relegation zone, travel to bottom side Sunderland on Saturday and will hope that a first away win of the season can lift them up the table.

"Believe me, I have forgotten completely what happened last season," Ranieri told the club website. (www.lcfc.com)

"This is a new season and we have to react and come back. We know it will be a very, very tough match on Saturday.

"Two points (from the relegation zone) is not satisfying... We have to be strong, play together and fight together."

Leicester, who have 13 points from as many games, are 14th after managing to win just three league fixtures this season.

"The Foxes are fearless," Ranieri added. "Also last season, when you are talking about looking forward (in the table), I look behind... we have to improve and make something better than we have done so far."

Ranieri also said Leicester must continue to display the character they showed in last weekend's 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough when they fought back twice to share the points.

"It was a very dramatic final but everybody believed that we could draw the match and at the end we drew the match. This is the spirit that I love," the Italian said.

(Reporting by Debanjan Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by John O'Brien)