Reuters /London


Manager Claudio Ranieri is loving life at the top of the Premier League and is curious about what high-flying Leicester City can achieve although he still refuses to look beyond ensuring their survival this season.
The Foxes top the division and are just eight points short of the 40 that guarantee them top-flight football next season. “Everybody knows us a little more. It’s good for the club, the city and the fans,” Ranieri told reporters at his pre-match news conference ahead of Monday’s visit of champions Chelsea. “Let me achieve 40 points and then I can tell you what our goal is. It’s a good time to test our team at the moment. We want to test our team to see what they can do this season. That’s my goal.”
Defending champions Chelsea, fresh from their Champions League win against Porto on Wednesday and looking to bounce back from last weekend’s Premier League defeat by Bournemouth, will provide exactly the kind of test Ranieri is looking for.
A win against Jose Mourinho’s men, who sit 14th in the table and 17 points adrift of Leicester, would reinforce the Foxes’ title credentials ahead of a tough run of fixtures before the new year. “Chelsea are Chelsea, Mourinho is Mourinho and I’m sure they will be near the top at the end of the season,” Ranieri said. “I respect Chelsea a lot. I watched (win over Porto) . They played very well and moved it quickly. They are the champions.”
The Foxes are away at Everton and Liverpool after Chelsea, before hosting Manchester City, and while Ranieri boasts the league’s deadliest strike force in Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, he is more focused on his team’s defence. “For us clean sheets are very important. Sooner or later we will score, so if we maintain a clean sheet, we can win,” Ranieri said. “It’s not important who scores, it’s important that the team scores and that the team plays well.”
Sad Monk laments
Swansea exit
Former Swansea City manager Garry Monk said he left the club with “great sadness” after he was fired on Wednesday following a dismal run of form in the Premier League. The former Swansea defender, who played for the Welsh team during their rise to the top flight and took over from Michael Laudrup as boss in February 2014, issued a statement through the League Managers’ Association yesterday. “I believe that whenever you join a football club, the supporters deserve your blood, sweat and tears. I can say for sure I gave all those things and more,” he said.
Monk earned plaudits for Swansea’s 2014-15 campaign when he steered the club to a record eighth-place finish. They started the current season well, drawing with Chelsea on the opening day and beating Manchester United at the end of August.
Since that victory, however, Swansea have won only one of 11 matches and have plunged towards the relegation zone. “Everyone at the club from myself, my staff and the players themselves have been working tirelessly to change this loss of form, but unfortunately have not been able to in satisfactory time,” Monk added.
“I have no doubt whatsoever that these players will start to show their true quality again very soon, and the club will be looking upwards once more.”
Monk joined Swansea when they were in the fourth tier and was a cornerstone of their defence as they earned three promotions and returned to the top flight in 2011 after an absence of 28 years. He captained the club in all four divisions and made 270 appearances before taking over as manager on an interim basis when Laudrup departed. He was handed the job on a permanent basis in May 2014.
“I would have liked to continue because I strongly believe we would have come through this period together and stronger but I will now use my time to reflect and improve, ready for my next challenge,” he said.