Leicester vs West Ham: Claudio Ranieri 'not worried' about Spurs challenge despite Hammers blip

Ranieri says his side are not worried about the gap to Tottenham despite being held to a draw with West Ham

Claudio Ranieri reacts during Leicester's 2-2 draw with West Ham (Getty)

Manager Claudio Ranieri dismissed any concerns Leicester have given Tottenham hope in the title race after their controversial 2-2 draw with West Ham.

The 10-man Foxes clinched a point after Leonardo Ulloa's injury-time penalty sealed a point in a breathless finale.

Andy Carroll's penalty and Aaron Cresswell's stunning effort in the final six minutes looked to have given the Hammers victory after Jamie Vardy was dismissed, collecting a second booking for diving.

Referee Jon Moss was in the spotlight for several key calls, including the Hammers' penalty when Wes Morgan pulled Winston Reid, Vardy's red card and the Foxes' late spot-kick after Carroll felled Jeff Schlupp.

Vardy could also face a Football Association charge for his reaction to his red, where he appeared to confront Moss, if the official includes it in his report on Monday.

Leicester are now eight points clear at the top, but Tottenham will close the gap with victory at Stoke on Monday. Yet Ranieri remains relaxed.

He said: "Never we are worried. We were worried at the beginning of the season to achieve 40 points. Now we enjoy, I never speak with my players about the gap, blah, blah, blah. Everything is in our hands. If we fight and win it's okay.

"If the other team, it could be Tottenham or Arsenal, is better than us and wins the title, well done. We are doing the maximum. If there is another team who play better and win more than us, well done to them."

The goal was only Ulloa's fourth of the season after he netted 13 times last term and he is likely to replace the banned Vardy against Swansea next Sunday.


 Jamie Vardy reacts after being sent off during Leicester vs West Ham 
 (EPA)

He said: "I didn't think about the pressure of the situation at that moment. I felt after I scored how important was the goal.

"I don't know what happened with Jamie's red card. We don't think about this, we just need to think about the next game.

"I love to play with this team because they have this character when we are losing or in a bad situation we are always fighting together.

"We are a team and that is more important, not for me but for everyone. When we are on the pitch we work together and help each other."

Jeff Schlupp goes down under the challenge of Andy Carroll to win Leicester a penalty (Getty)

Vardy was dismissed following a tangle with Angelo Ogbonna, but Ranieri said he did not dive in the first place.

He said: "He (Vardy) never dives. He's always good. He's very fast and at this speed if you touch even a little then (you may go down). But it's okay. I always speak with the players about our performance and our performance was good."

Leicester celebrate following Leonardo Ulloa's late equaliser against West Ham (Getty)

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic refused to criticise Moss, but striker Carroll blasted the official and felt he cost them victory.

"It is the same week in, week out," Carroll told Press Association. "The same decisions, bad decisions costing us games. It is eight points now that we've dropped. It is not acceptable, to be honest.

"I know that, the manager knows that, all the players know that and a lot of the people standing around know that.

"I mean, it is a bad decision - it is bad decisions he has given all game. It's not the first time and probably won't be the last."

The draw further dented the Hammers' top-four hopes and Bilic insisted his side deserved to win.

He added: "I thought - and I still think - we did enough to win the game. But then at the end we first made a mistake because we had the ball in the middle of the park in a situation where you know they are going to take risks."