Thursday 5 May 2016 18:37, UK
Everton manager Roberto Martinez has heaped praise on Leicester and Claudio Ranieri, calling their title-winning story a modern day "fairy tale" and the greatest in the history of the Premier League.
The new champions will receive a Guard of Honour from Everton when the sides meet on Saturday Night Football before being presented with the Premier League trophy in front of their supporters at the King Power stadium after the game.
Martinez has come in for criticism from his own fans in recent weeks following a disappointing league campaign but took time to acknowledge Leicester's achievement and said he did not expect any midweek celebrations to play a part in the game at the weekend.
"For me, they have been deserved winners of the Premier League this season in a very competitive league and clearly they will be playing with that swagger," he said. "We will congratulate them and, from that point on, we will focus on trying to be a team that can perform against them.
"They have been a real inspiration in terms of a winning team, and not just in football, throughout sport. To have that intensity and that drive and, against all odds, it has been the real fairy tale of football and sport in general in the modern game.
"From our point of view, we are facing a team who have been playing all season with incredible intensity and tempo. We know we will be facing a team that are probably in the best moment of confidence you could find them.
"Claudio Ranieri deserves incredible plaudits and credit. Everything has been well measured; he has shown real good experience in protecting the squad. I don't think it has been an accident. In a competition of 10 months they are where they are on merit."
Martinez says it is too early to know how Leicester's success will change the landscape of the division and the thinking of clubs but says it is the greatest story in the history of the Premier League.
"We need to be realistic - this is not the norm, I don't think it is something that will be repeated easily. Every club has a plan, your own structure and process. I don't think it will affect it in that manner," he said.
"I see it as an inspirational example in sport and life in general, it is a celebration for the Premier League, you haven't seen a story like Leicester in the 24 seasons of the Premier League history and it is quite unique and they deserve it."
Everton face Sunderland and Norwich after their trip to Leicester and Martinez is keen to see his side collect as many points as possible from their last three games in order to finish strongly after going seven games without a win before last week's victory over Bournemouth.
"We had to get back to winning ways," he said. "Against Bournemouth we had to find that winning feeling, we got that, and now we face the next three games with a real focus to try and get as many points as we can.
"Every position from now until the end of the season matters, it has got huge financial implications, a huge role in the integrity of the league. I think we need to finish strongly and the amount of points matter.
"Our home form hasn't been good enough and what we don't want is to go into the last game that we have at home and we don't finish strong. Our fans at Goodison haven't been able to enjoy that winning feeling enough. Away from home we had very different results."
There has been speculation over the Spaniard's future for some weeks but Martinez said the club are constantly working on potential recruits for the summer transfer window.
"At the football club we always work in the same manner. When you finish a transfer window you always start working and planning for the next one," he said.
"Since I arrived at the football club it was very clear where we wanted to get to, we are not there yet and there is a lot of work to be done but we never stop from working and pushing to where we want to get. After the January window we have been working really hard."
