Claudio Ranieri urges wily Leicester to keep on running

Claudio Ranieri has told Leicester to keep their title charge running — as he compared them to Forrest Gump.

The boss wants the Foxes to maintain the pace at the top and likened their stamina to Tom Hanks’ film character who ran across America.

The Foxes will be top on Christmas Day just 12 months after being bottom of the Premier League.

They go to Liverpool on St Stephen’s Day and then host title rivals Manchester City on Tuesday having lost just once this season.

Ranieri replaced Nigel Pearson in the summer and feels the Foxes can last the marathon season.

He said: “I am very confident because Leicester, last season, saved themselves in the last two months and that means the stamina is fantastic. Why can’t we continue to run, run, run? We are like Forrest Gump.

“The players know we are doing well but we haven’t achieved anything.

“If I understand correctly, Leicester were never top of the league at this time so we are very happy. When the manager and the players make the fans happy then this is fantastic.

“I looked at the start of the season and thought these games were unbelievable — that over Christmas we had a very big rock.

“But now we are only concentrating on Liverpool, then when we’ve finished that match we will concentrate on the next.

“Liverpool have started very well with (Jurgen) Klopp, so whether they win, lose or draw they are a very hungry team and they fight.”

Leicester will beat Ranieri’s pre-season points target of 40 with a win at Anfield and the boss has already said he will sit down with his squad to re-evaluate their goals.

He added: “I am very proud for my players and for my fans. It is fantastic but we have to work some more.

“Now they are dreaming and I don’t want to wake them up.”