Noel Whelan has insisted Brendan Rodgers turning Leicester City around was “always on the cards” and it is “hard to see them going backwards” again this season.
The former Leeds striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, claimed the Foxes’ “massive” defensive improvement has been key to their uptick in form.
Leicester beat Wolves 4-0 on Sunday (23 October) to lift themselves out of the Premier League’s bottom three.
Rodgers’ side have kept four clean sheets in their last five games – a stark contrast to conceding 22 goals in their first seven.
Football Insider revealed last month (19 September) that Leicester were sounding out potential managerial candidates after that terrible run of form.
Wout Faes was the Midlands sides’ only summer signing but he has had a big impact at the King Power Stadium, with club legend Gary Lineker claiming the Foxes have “struck gold”.
Whelan suggested he can start to see the “confidence oozing through” the 2021 FA Cup winners again.
He told Football Insider’s Ewan Kingsbury: “I think it was always on the cards.
“He’s too good of a manager for him not to turn it around. He’s also got some really talented players.
“For me, Tielemans is so important – and they even got a win in midweek without Maddison.
“They’re a very organised, potent side but it was just all about getting the defence fixed and shoring it up. They seem to have done that now, which is massively important.
“When you get a couple of wins, and especially back-to-back wins, you start to see that confidence oozing through the whole team again.
“Everyone looks like they’re in a happier place and it’s hard to see them going backward from here.”