sport news Leicester turn to Dean Smith in a bid to save their Premier League lives trends now

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Dean Smith has been tasked with repeating the heroics that led Aston Villa to safety after agreeing to take charge of struggling Leicester until the end of the season.

Smith has signed a deal for the remaining eight games with one simple objective: keep Leicester in the Premier League. The Foxes are two points off safety but their next game is at Manchester City and they have taken only one point from a possible 24.

As first reported by Sportsmail, Smith will bring in former England captain John Terry as part of his coaching staff, along with ex-Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare. Shakespeare was a key member of Claudio Ranieri’s coaching staff when Leicester won the title in 2016, and was manager the following year when they reached the Champions League quarter-finals.

More pertinently, Shakespeare was also involved when Leicester staged the ‘great escape’ from relegation in 2015 under Nigel Pearson.

Leicester have moved for Smith after acknowledging their initial plan to replace Brendan Rodgers was not working. Rodgers was sacked on April 2 and the club entrusted first-team coach Adam Sadler and goalkeeping coach Mike Stowell with steering a course to safety, hoping to appoint a permanent manager in the summer. Graham Potter, recently sacked by Chelsea, was the preferred option.