Former striker Emile Heskey admits he does not see enough “battlers” in the Leicester team for them to survive relegation from the Premier League.
Leicester were cut even further adrift of safety following the weekend’s results, which saw the Foxes lose out narrowly to Chelsea, while a point for Wolves against Everton extended the gap slightly to six points with 10 games remaining.
Marc Cucurella scored the only goal of the game as Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side suffered a 12th defeat from their last 13 league matches.
Heskey, who scored 41 times in 163 games for the Foxes, thinks staying in the league will be a “mountain to climb” following their string of poor results.
Speaking at Topps’ Rip Night in Loughborough, he told the PA news agency: “It’s going to be a very difficult one now.
“I don’t think they are fully equipped with the squad they have to mount a challenge to stay in the league. I don’t think I’ve changed my views on that.
“It’s the hardest league in the world. To get in is tough but to stay in it is even tougher, so it is a mountain to climb.
“We’ve done it the season before we won the league, that season. But that was a real battling side. I don’t see those battlers in this squad.”
Woyo Coulibaly was brought in from Parma for £3 million in the January transfer window but no other reinforcements were bought in what was a poor window for the Foxes.
Coulibaly has not featured since he was taken off at half-time of Leicester’s 4-0 defeat to Brentford in February. Heskey has pointed the finger at recruitment and stressed it has not been good enough to keep a promoted team in the division.
He added: “If you can’t invest in the team and can’t add to what you’ve got it will be very difficult to go into the Premier League.
“If you look at the teams you’re playing against, they are top teams. I would say most of them could play in the Champions League and beat most of them.
“To think we can come in with the same squad and same bunch of players and survive is unrealistic.
“You need to improve, add to the squad and a bit of experience of what it means to stay in this league.”
:: Emile Heskey was speaking at Topps’ Rip Night in Loughborough.
