Evans says Leicester revelling in role of title contenders after Villa victory

Jonny Evans says Leicester are relishing their status as title contenders after Foxes great Gary Lineker warned Liverpool that his old side are ready to challenge them for the crown.

The former England captain tweeted: 'Watch out LFC, The Foxes are on your tail' after Leicester recorded a club-record eighth successive top-flight victory by winning 4-1 at Aston Villa.

Jamie Vardy's double means he has now scored in eight games in a row, and he could equal his own 2015-16 record of goals in 11 straight league matches on Boxing Day, when Leicester face Liverpool at King Power Stadium.

'It's good (to be talked about as contenders),' said Evans, who won the title three times with Manchester United. 'People want recognition for how they're playing, everyone likes to be talked up a bit. It's nice that people are talking about us.

'We're up there, we're challenging and playing well. Probably now people will start talking more about that. There's a long way to go but we're all enjoying it which is a big factor. There's a great spirit about the club.'

Vardy opened the scoring in the first half and Kelechi Iheanacho doubled Leicester's lead before Jack Grealish struck in first-half stoppage time, but second-half goals from Evans and Vardy made the win emphatic.

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers said: 'It was a real historical day for us. To surpass the club record of straight wins in the top-flight was fantastic.. And (it as) a performance to match that.'

Rodgers has been careful to play down his side's title chances until now, but he could not resist a subtle reference to the fact they have been overlooked by some.

He added: 'After Manchester United won at Manchester City on Saturday the caption comes up on TV about how far City are away from Liverpool. It doesn't really rile us. It's part of the game I suppose.'

Villa boss Dean Smith is looking over his shoulder, meanwhile, with his team above the bottom three on goal difference alone.

He felt aggrieved that VAR had not checked Evans' goal for what he said was a push on Ahmed Elmohamady, and could also lose Tyrone Mings for a significant period with a hamstring injury.

Mings was wrongly allowed to play on initially after the injury and was unable to move freely to close down Vardy before the first goal.

Smith said: 'We conceded 23 chances and you can't expect to win games when you do that. Our defensive structure has to be better, individually we have to be better.'