Sunday 10 April 2016 13:03, UK
Robert Huth insists that Claudio Ranieri has changed since his time at Chelsea, and is more relaxed despite closing in on the Premier League title.
The German defender worked with Ranieri at the beginning of his career, and has played a pivotal role in helping the Foxes sit on the verge of an incredible maiden top flight title in a second stint alongside the Italian boss.
Leicester travel to Sunderland for the first installment of Super Sunday, knowing victory will open up a ten-point gap at the top of the table.
Despite so much being at stake, Huth, in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News HQ, believes that Ranieri is taking it all in his stride, in contrast to his demeanour under the scrutiny of Roman Abramovich at Chelsea.
"He has changed quite a lot, in my opinion," Huth said. "He is much more relaxed. I've never seen him laugh so much.
"At Chelsea, with Abramovich coming in, with all the finances changing, the pressure went to focusing on winning titles immediately.
"Everything was a lot more intense, even him as a person. Here it is not the opposite, but it is relaxed. Maybe it is something he has learned through age. I was much more intense when I was younger."
Not even the most optimistic of Foxes' fans could have foreseen the events that have unfolded at the King Power Stadium this season.
Huth shares the sentiment, but is adamant the attitude of the players has remained the same since day one.
"Our daily routine is the same, our match-day routine is the same, and obviously people are getting more excited the closer we get to the finish line," Huth said.
"From our point of view, we are as relaxed and as focused as we were against Sunderland on the first day of the season many, many months ago.
"We are not more nervous, or less nervous, we are the same flat line, doing our job.
"The aim at the start of the season was to stay up. The first meeting with the boss he made it clear that we need to be safe, whether that be 38 or 40 points. That was our focus from day one.
"There was no talk of the top ten, we just focused on staying up, and then we would go from there. We reached 40 points around Christmas," he added.
"After that, people would say that we'd lose focus on what we do, and we did have a bit of a wobble around New Year, apart from that we have been just getting on with it, doing exactly what we have done from the first game of the season.
"We are going to fight for each other and give everything we have got."
