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Do not be scared of set-piece crackdown, says Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri

Paul Pogba goal, Manchester United v Leicester City, Premier League
Image: Paul Pogba's goal was one of three Manchester United scored from corners against Leicester

Claudio Ranieri has told Leicester to get "back to our strengths" and stop obsessing over the crackdown on set-piece defending.

Three of Manchester United's four goals in Saturday's defeat at Old Trafford came from corners, and Danny Simpson later admitted City are struggling to cope with the greater scrutiny on shirt pulling and blocking in the box.

But Ranieri says the rule outlawing grappling is nothing new, and the Leicester boss wants his players to revert to type, starting with their first Champions League home game against Porto on Tuesday night.

"Yes, we concede a lot of goals," Ranieri said at his Champions League press conference. "I spoke to the players yesterday and they were scared. What the referees speak about is not a new rule, it's something we're used to doing. I said why change?

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Manager Claudio Ranieri wants his side to go back to how they defended set pieces last year after conceding from three corners against Manchester United

"Last season we were one of best in league and conceded very few goals from the set pieces and now we leave four metres. Now I can't jump? We have to go back to our strengths."

Porto have particular reason to fear Leicester's own set-piece threat given the presence of Islam Slimani, the aerial specialist who scored six times in six games against them during his time at Sporting Lisbon.

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Both Slimani's goals for the English champions have been headers, and Ranieri said, of the striker who became known as 'the Dragon slayer' in Portugal, regarding his performances against Porto: "He has scored a lot of goals against Porto and I'm sure he'll be a threat to them."

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Man Utd 4-1 Leicester

Leicester have already lost as many Premier League games as they did in the whole of their title-winning season, but Ranieri denied his players are having trouble adapting to their newly-lofty status.

"I wouldn't say we are feeling the pressure of that," he said. "We have had a tough start to the Premier League campaign - we have played Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool and they are tough games.

"Obviously the manner in which we have lost is not good but to say we prefer being underdogs isn't really true. We go into every game the same. In the Champions League, it will be no different. We are probably underdogs again but it will play no part in our mindset. We will try and win the game as we always do."

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