Leicester City deserve to be among Championship front-runners – Milan Mandaric

Milan Mandaric believes Leicester City have every right to be among the promotion contenders.

After back-to-back victories at Reading and QPR, City have moved into fourth place in the Championship, just a point behind West Bromwich Albion, who visit the Walkers Stadium on Saturday for a huge top-of-the-table clash.

While City's lofty position may have taken many by surprise, City chairman Mandaric believes they deserve to be among the front-runners and he hailed manager Nigel Pearson as the main reason for their success.

"Everyone is very excited and rightly so," said Mandaric.

"We are playing as a team at the moment and when you analyse the way we play, there isn't an emphasis on one or two players. It is a team effort.

"I am delighted with the quality of football we are playing at the moment and it underlines the credentials of Nigel Pearson as one of the best managers in this division.

"It is a big test for us on Saturday and the win at QPR demonstrated what we can do.

"It is a huge test for us but, knowing the character of the players, I know they won't let us down.

"Morale is high and everyone is very positive. We are optimistic and confident. Winning on Saturday would put us in a great position.

"If we beat West Brom on Saturday it would be the best tonic I could have for a recent bout of 'flu."

Mandaric said the much-heralded squad ethic at City was the main reason why he did not cave in to Edgar Davids' wage demands.

City's attempts to entice the 36-year-old Dutch international out of retirement were scuppered when Davids and his representatives initially rejected the offer tabled by Mandaric, but City refused to be held to ransom.

Mandaric declined to reveal what Davids, who has not played competitively since his contract at Ajax expired in June 2008, was asking for, but he said it may have caused problems within Pearson's camp.

"We have to draw the line somewhere," said Mandaric.

"We play as a team so we have to look at that.

"We felt the offer we made was a fair one. I don't talk about actual numbers but he wanted more than the contracts we have here.

"It would have caused problems with the budget and we are already over budget.

"Yes, he is a superstar and a big name but we have to look at the bigger picture."