Ruud van Nistelrooy retains total faith in striker Jamie Vardy with the Leicester City captain to continue leading the line.
Vardy has scored just once in his last 11 Premier League games and he's mustered very few shots at goal over the past month.
But the problem is not with Vardy in van Nistelrooy’s eyes. The issue is that opportunities are not being created for him by his City team-mates.
And so it does not seem it is at all on the Dutchman’s mind that he might drop the number nine for Patson Daka.
“We have to make sure we keep creating chances for our attacking players,” van Nistelrooy said. “That is for sure. You can’t give a cross to yourself and score!
“So you have to build it up from the back, or you have to make a good counter-attack, or make a good set-piece to provide chances for your attacking players. That’s a collective thing.
“I have no doubt in my mind that when those chances are there, he is going to take them.”
Neither does van Nistelrooy have any doubts that he might over-use Vardy. The 38-year-old has already surpassed the number of minutes he played in the whole of last season and with another 130 minutes, he will have played more often than in the two campaigns before that too.
Vardy has played 15 lots of 90 minutes so far this term, and more can be expected over the final 11 matches.
“There’s no need to manage his minutes,” van Nistelrooy added. “He’s training everything.
“He’s competing with all of his team-mates. He’s doing the same work they all do. He’s our captain. He will lead us out. His minutes are no problem.”
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