Dean Smith praised his Leicester City players for keeping the pressure on Everton after their battling display against Newcastle United gave them a slim chance of survival.
Monday's 0-0 draw at St. James' Park left the Foxes in the drop zone with one game to go and knowing even victory at home to West Ham United on the final day might not preserve their top-flight status. As a win for Everton at home to Bournemouth on Sunday would condemn the 2016 Premier League champions to the Championship for the first time since 2014.
But speaking after the Newcastle game, Smith, although admitting his side needed help from the Cherries in their battle to avoid relegation, was keen to look at the positives and believes putting pressure on Everton is one.
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The Leicester boss said: “We’re going to need help. There’s gonna be a lot of anxiety I think on Sunday for all three teams that are in it, but our job first and foremost is a real tough job against West Ham to try and win that game.
“I’m sure with our supporters behind us, they saw how hard the players worked today and can do that.
“It’s out of our hands if Everton win, so as long as we can say we gave it our best shot, we’ll fight tooth and nail to stay in there. All we can do is put some pressure on Everton and we’ve done that.
“I don’t think many people would have thought we could have come here and got a result today, that’s why I make no apologies for the way we played, we come here and got a result today, and it takes us into that last game.”
The result moved the Foxes up to 31 points and 18th on goal difference above Leeds United, who now sit 19th, ahead of already-relegated Southampton. Everton are 17th two points above Leeds and Leicester.
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