Wednesday 26 April 2017 07:44, UK
Jamie Vardy is getting back to his best as he prepares to face the club he could have signed for over the summer, says Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare.
Vardy rejected a £20m move to Arsenal - who Leicester face at the Emirates on Wednesday night - after the Gunners triggered Vardy's release clause.
The England international decided to stay with Leicester and signed a four-year deal at the King Power Stadium, only to suffer a dip in form, after scoring 24 times last season to help the Foxes claim the Premier League title.
Vardy scored just six times for Leicester before Christmas but has nine goals in his past 13 games for Leicester and England, with Shakespeare expecting him to further add to his tally before the end of the campaign.
"I think all players will go through peaks and troughs, they have that and they have to stay mentally tough, which Jamie did," he said.
"Players can't think, 'If I have one bad game maybe I made the wrong decision'.
"It's about rolling your sleeves up and making sure you turn those indifferent performances into good performances and you see the Jamie that we're seeing out here at the moment, playing full of confidence but a goal threat as well.
"I'm reluctant to say yes [he is back to his best] as I want more from him, but his goalscoring of late has been very good.
"I think strikers go through purple patches, then there are the dark times when whatever they hit doesn't go in.
"At the moment, you see a player full of confidence and full of running, we need a Jamie Vardy threatening defenders, getting on the shoulders and being a goal threat as well."
Vardy could further dent Arsenal's hopes of securing a top-four finish, with Arsene Wenger's side in seventh and in danger of missing out on a Champions League spot for the first time since 1997.
