LEICESTER City manager Nigel Pearson opted for compliments rather than insults when he spoke about Burnley at his pre-match press conference yesterday.

Pearson upset Burnley supporters when he surprisingly denigrated the Clarets after the 2-2 draw at the King Power Stadium in October.

Then he suggested that Burnley were not as good as they were a season earlier.

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But as he prepares to bring his Leicester side to Turf Moor tomorrow, Pearson was in more conciliatory mood yesterday.

He said: “Every encounter we’ve had with Burnley have been very close affairs so we’ve got respect for them.

“I think they have a very clear identity.

“In most of the games they’ve played this season, in a way similar to us, they’ve very much been in the match.

“We’ll have to deal with what they’ve got to offer but we have got players who are in very decent form.

“We’ve got to make sure our own performance is hitting the sort of standards which we’ve found of late.”

Leicester recorded their third straight victory at the weekend to move off the bottom of the table, with Burnley replacing them.

“It’s not something we’ve really spent too much time talking about,” Pearson insisted.

“People might say it’s buoyant around the place but my perspective is that we’ve worked very hard all season.

“We’re still in the bottom three so I’m not too concerned about it.

“We’ve given ourselves a better chance than we had three weeks ago.

“The majority of the games we have left will have a direct bearing over us and the sides around us.”