Is this Leicester's last chance to avoid relegation?

Leicester City have won just one of their past 17 matches in all competitions [Getty Images]

Leicester City boss Gary Rowett says his side have one final chance to save themselves from relegation.

The East Midlands club are second-from-bottom and four points adrift of safety after crumbling to a 1-0 home defeat against mid-table Swansea.

Afterwards Rowett confessed that his 10 matches in charge "have felt like 40", such was the dispirited performance after conceding what he described as a "ridiculous" goal on a counter attack that started on the edge of Swansea's penalty area.

Leicester face relegation rivals Portsmouth next who could be seven points clear of the Foxes by Saturday if they manage to beat Ipswich in their midweek game.

"We have to go show some sort of responsibility and go fight and try create a way to win a game a different way, it doesn't have to be perfect," he told BBC Radio Leicester.

"We have to go to Portsmouth and win the game, simple as that. If we don't win the game, my belief is that it's our last chance."

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Rowett certainly lived up to his reputation for straight-talking when confessing to how bad a situation Leicester are in with four games remaining.

There has been a chorus of agreement from former players, media pundits and Foxes supporters in the days since - with some of the most prominent voices pointing out that the the grim situation the club finds itself should not come as a surprise.

Since winning promotion as Championship title winners two seasons ago, Leicester have won just 17 of their 80 league games since the summer of 2024 to be in danger of suffering back-to-back relegations.

If being in the second tier as the club marks the 10-year anniversary of winning the Premier League title was not already damning proof of their recent decline, the fact they could now have their place in the third tier confirmed even before the milestone date is reached on 2 May underlines that English football's fairytale is now a living nightmare.

Supporters have often booed performances, called for sporting director Jon Rudkin to leave the club and owner Khun Aiyawatt 'Top' Srivaddhanaprabha to sell up during a season of discontent.

As it stands, if Leicester fail to beat Portsmouth on Saturday and results elsewhere go against them in the next seven days, they could be on the brink of relegation as early as next Tuesday when they face promotion chasing Hull City.

Former Foxes striker Matt Piper has has been part of BBC Radio Leicester's commentary team for a a number of years, following the club's fortunes in the Premier League and in European competition and he says there is little reason to believe Leicester can pull off a relegation escape act.

"Of course we could get out of it mathematically, but I'm looking at two or three teams around us, Oxford and Portsmouth, and they are showing what you were hoping would come from the Leicester City players - they are showing fight and a bit of grit, determination and desire to wear that shirt with pride and keep their football club n the league.

"And I don't think we are seeing that from Leicester players.

"I felt really sorry for the kids that watched that [game against Swansea] and think that is normal. You get a goal scored against you or something goes against you in a game and you just give up.

"That is not professional sport and that is not how those players got to that level, and that is why I can't understand that they don't give more."

'Unrecognisable lack of attitude'

Piper went on to says that there is an "unrecognisable lack of attitude " for Leicester's players - a number of whom were in Leicester's promotion-winning side under Enzo Maresca and have vast Premier League and international experience.

While a six-point penalty for historial spending breaches has put Leicester in the bottom three, every point earned this season would not have been enough to get them out of relegation trouble.

"Leicester have had some shocking teams over the years and some really poor players - and I've been part of those squads so I'm not excusing myself - but what I will say is that even when we were really poor, you still had players that pulled on the shirt and gave it everything," Piper said.

"The thing that highlights things most with this group is that there are some really talented players.

"We have been massively underachieving with the the group of players we have and it would be a disaster of a season even without the six-point deduction."

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