Maresca insists there isn’t any pressure for promotion at Leicester

Enzo Maresca insists there is ‘no pressure’ on him from Leicester to make an immediate return to the Premier League even though they are widely tipped for promotion.

Pep Guardiola’s former assistant signed a three-year deal with the Foxes after they were relegated from the top flight last summer, and takes charge of his first competitive game against Coventry on Sunday.

Thanks to their greater wealth and stronger squads, Leeds, Leicester and Southampton will be expected to make the running in the second tier. Yet Maresca claims he was set no such target by the club hierarchy – even though they won the Premier League title only seven years ago, and the FA Cup in 2021.

Maresca said: ‘We need to start well but I feel no pressure. The only pressure is to see the team improving. There is no pressure from the club saying ‘We need to get promoted.’ Nobody said ‘This is the only target we have.’

‘We are all ambitious and want the same target but football is not as simple as A, B, C. It’s dynamic, and it would be a big mistake for us to think of the time we won the title of the FA Cup.

Enzo Maresca says there isn’t any pressure from Leicester to secure immediate promotion

Maresca will be without summer signing Conor Coady for several weeks because of injury

‘That’s our history and nobody can touch it but the reality is completely different. The reality is where we are now – in the Championship. Every club will want to beat us.’

Maresca will be without Conor Coady, the £7.5million summer signing from Wolves, for several weeks due to injury, meaning Jamie Vardy may take the armband on Sunday.

Leicester lost James Maddison and Harvey Barnes to Tottenham and Newcastle respectively this summer, for a combined fee of about £80m, and Maresca is keen to strengthen further before the transfer window closes at the end of August.

With Coady unavailable, Jamie Vardy may be given the armband against Coventry