- City entertain Liverpool at King Power Stadium on Monday evening (8pm KO)
- The Foxes could move as high as 15th in the Premier League table with a win
Goalkeeper says Leicester City must now view their remaining 13 2016/17 Premier League games as a ‘mini-season’.
The Foxes are looking for their first league victory of 2017 and know they must improve their form if they are to retain their top-flight status.
A talented Liverpool side and while three points is the target for City, Schmeichel knows just how difficult it will be.
“We expect a tough test because they’re a top-class side and we’re expecting a very tough game,” the ‘keeper told “We had a difficult time against them at Anfield earlier in the season, so we know it will be very hard.
“We’re going to have to improve because we haven’t been able to hit the standards that are required this season. We are in a situation where we have kind of a mini-season of 13 games to go now where we have to improve if we want to stay in this league.
“Any win in the Premier League is huge. We are in desperate need of a win – there’s no question about that. It’s about belief – we have to keep believing and having the faith to keep working hard.”
Despite being beaten, Leicester put in a positive performance side on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League – a clash which Schmeichel excelled in after making numerous stops, as well as saving a penalty early on.
“The away goal is obviously huge for us,” Schmeichel said of Jamie Vardy’s strike in southern Spain. “That gives us a chance and going away with a 2-0 deficit would have been very tough to overturn.
“The away goal has given us hope, but we’re under no illusions – it’s going to be very tough. We came up against a very strong side and we struggled for large periods of the game, but when really needed to dig something out we managed to and that’s kept the tie alive.
“We have to try and use whatever we can from that and bring it into our league form because our league form hasn’t been good enough.”