Drinkwater rues Villa leveller as Leicester edge back to the top

Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater felt his side should have secured a win to place pressure on Premier League title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal in the 1-1 draw at Aston Villa.

Claudio Ranieri’s side led after 28 minutes through Shinji Okazaki and should have established a more comfortable cushion when Riyad Mahrez had a penalty saved for the second time this month five minutes later.

Villa, the division’s bottom side who claimed a first win since the opening day of the season against Crystal Palace in midweek, were buoyed by that let-off and substitute Rudy Gestede levelled amid suspicions of offside with 15 minutes remaining.

The result returns Leicester to the Premier League summit, although their stay at the top will be short-lived if Arsenal avoid defeat at Stoke City on Saturday.

“In the first half we were the better side, in the second half we tried more on the counter I guess, but I still think we deserved the three points,” Drinkwater told Sky Sports.

“But Villa came out and battled, so fair play to them.”

Drinkwater felt the palpable disappointment in the Leicester dressing room underlined the progress last season’s strugglers have made to launch a title challenge that has long since passed beyond the realms of novelty.

“Look where we are in the league, it’s a massive achievement already,” he added.

“That we’re disappointed with a draw at Villa shows how far we’ve come. If we can stay around the top of the table now then we will have achieved a massive goal.”