Leicester vs QPR preview - Pearson eyes early summer business

Posted Saturday, May 23, 2015 by PA

Leicester boss Nigel Pearson is hopeful of moving quickly for transfer targets with the club's top-flight future assured.

The Foxes host QPR on Sunday having secured their Barclays Premier League survival last week - becoming just the third side who were bottom at Christmas to stay up in the division's history.

They have won six of their last eight games to climb off the bottom and sit 14th, having spent 140 days at the foot of the table this season.

Pearson is planning for next term and remains keen on Mainz forward Shinji Okazaki - and is eager to do his summer business early.

"We are as far on as we can be at this moment. It is an ongoing process. You can move a bit quicker when you know what division you are playing in," said Pearson, who is without David Nugent (calf) and Danny Simpson - the defender unavailable for selection as the club examine his case following a conviction for assault.

"It is a busy time but you need time to recharge. We always try to get our preparation as thorough as possible but it is only right to take time out from the day-to-day routine and pressures.

"I can assure you it does not need me to be at the sharp end all the time. Hopefully things can progress very well as we speak and we can do business sooner rather than later.

"Time will tell if we can improve next season. We were an unknown quantity at the start of the season. Our first five fixtures on paper were very tough and we performed very well.

"It's hard to quantify but we are a better unit than at the start of the season."

The Foxes, written off earlier in the season, only climbed off the bottom of the table at the start of April, and Pearson wants a winning finish against relegated Rangers.

"It has been interesting, it's been a frustrating. I won't use any other words, but it is different," he said.

"Psychologically it is important to finish well and financially too. The higher you finish, the better it is for the football club.

"It is good we finish on a good note from a prestige point of view.

"There is a better opportunity to enjoy ourselves. The feeling I get is they want to finish the season on a positive note."

Head coach Chris Ramsey hopes QPR can claim a third away win of the season to avoid finishing bottom.

Relegated Rangers secured their first away win of the campaign in February, a statistic which contributed to their demotion to the Sky Bet Championship for a second time in three seasons.

Ramsey, who was appointed on a permanent basis this week, wants his players to play with pride at the King Power Stadium and leapfrog Burnley, who play at Aston Villa.

"I'm hoping the players can play with a bit of pride and not finish bottom of the league," Ramsey said.

"If we can finish one place up the merit money will come in handy and it's good for the fans."

Ramsey wants QPR to be pulling in the same direction, back towards the top flight, next term.

"(I want to) try to get the staff around the club to work off one page, so we're all going in the same direction and try to build on what we've tried to build in the last few months," Ramsey added.

"The priority is immediately get to grips with the retain and released (players) list, get that sorted out as quickly and early as possible.

"Trying to recruit the right players that want to be at QPR, that put the effort in to put us on a stable footing and try to get us back to the Premier League."

Ramsey knows a swift return to the top flight is anything but a formality.

"The Championship is a very difficult division," he added.

"You have a lot of teams that have been in the Premier League, big names down there.

"We're not looking with any fear of the Championship but we have to respect it and make sure that, whatever happens, that we don't slide."