Leicester's Sausageman

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri is delighted with the impact his management is having in his adopted city, to the extent that locals are even naming food products after the eccentric Italian.

With just eight games of the Premier League season remaining, the Foxes are top of the Premier League by a margin of five points.

As a result, Ranieri-mania is reaching new heights in the East Midlands, with a local butcher inventing the 'Ranieri sausage' in the Italian's honour. Thanks to Leicester butchers W Archer and Son, who are offering the sausage to their customers, the Italian believes he has earned the right to a new nickname.

"I pay for pizza, you pay for the sausage," Ranieri beamed at Friday's press conference, referring to the meal he laid on for his players following their first clean sheet of the season against Crystal Palace in October.

"I am the Sausageman," said Ranieri, who has been rewarding his players with pizzas for clean sheets this season. "It is a good sausage. If there is enough chilli, it is good."

Despite Leicester's proximity to what would be a spectacular title victory, the former Chelsea boss insists he is taking nothing for granted.

"I think we need a little more, we need extra," he said.

"We have to put a turbo behind us and push a lot. Tottenham are a very, very strong team. Arsenal lost in the Champions League and now are free. There are teams behind us who can win all the last eight matches and get 24 points."

Ranieri's words imply the boss knows there will be no free meals from here to May.

But if the Foxes keep up their form, they may well be able to go the whole hog -- and that achievement would be snout to laugh at.