Leicester profit from Gregory's problems

Leicester City 3 Derby County 1

These sides shared the same fate five months ago in being relegated from the Premiership with a mountain of debt, but so far Leicester are making the most impressive recovery and they confirmed as much yesterday with a win over their neighbours from along the M1 that was emphatic enough to deepen the furrows in John Gregory's brow.

After Muzzy Izzet had quickly cancelled out Chris Riggott's opener for Derby, a contest fought with predictably raw passion remained in the balance until the last 11 minutes, when Leicester struck twice through their experienced front men, Brian Deane and Paul Dickov to retain second place in the table.

The result leaves Derby with an uncomfortable record of five defeats in their opening eight First Division matches, which will not improve chairman Lionel Pickering's sales pitch as he tries to find a buyer for a club reportedly £30 million in the red.

Leicester are not much better off. Their accountants would desperately have liked Izzet, for example, with his £35,000-a-week pay packet, to have left in the summer but so long as he remains then Micky Adams, the club's able young manager, has every chance of moulding a successful promotion run. Izzet was outstanding yesterday and, as Adams pointed out gleefully afterwards, no one can touch him now until January.

Adams had insisted ahead of the game that current form could be disregarded in trying to predict the outcome, in which respect he should not have been surprised to see Derby take a 22nd-minute lead.

After a corner from the left seemed not to have threatened the home side, Rob Lee, on the right, floated the ball back beyond the left-hand post and Chris Riggott, timing his run and leap perfectly, stole in to head past Ian Walker.

Derby's visits to Leicester have been profitable in the last few years, with four wins in five before this, and to go behind was a blow to Leicester, who had already had Callum Davidson, Paul Dickov and Izzet booked in a fractious opening. Derby's Georgi Kinkladze, recalled for his first start of the season, was to join them before half-time.

On the other hand, they had already gone close when Brian Deane headed an Alan Rogers cross against the bar and there was an openness about the contest that seemed to point towards more goals. Indeed, the Leicester fans had only to wait six minutes to celebrate an equaliser from Izzet.

When Dickov, after a neat turn, chipped in a cross from the left, the transfer-listed midfield player thumped a header beyond Mart Poom's reach to score for the second successive Saturday.

Throughout the second half, it looked like anybody's game, but ultimately it was Leicester who found the way to settle it. Substitute Jordan Stewart set up the first of the two goals that swung the balance decisively in their favour, feinting to to go left as Riggott waited to challenge then slipping the ball to his right to Deane, who sidefooted firmly into the far corner of the net.

Then the ever-dangerous Dickov had his moment, slamming the ball home from the edge of the 18-yard box after Deane had flicked on goalkeeper Walker's long punt.