Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri has urged Jamie Vardy to prove England manager Sam Allardyce wrong after he was an unused substitute during the Three Lions’ 1-0 victory over Slovakia on Sunday.

The forward was overlooked for the match in Trnava as Allardyce got his tenure as England manager off to a winning start, and he will now return to club action, as the Foxes prepare to take on Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday evening.

Vardy was Leicester’s top scorer last season, netting 24 league goals, while he has also found the back of the net once in his opening three matches of the new campaign.

Ranieri now wants the former Fleetwood player to prove Allardyce wrong over the coming weeks, by scoring consistently for the reigning Premier League champions.

“He’s refreshed, he trained very well,” the Italian said. “For me it is good [he didn’t play].

For him, no. Maybe he is more hungry – show me. You have to fight and say, ‘Hey, Sam, I am ready to play’.”

Vardy was not the only Leicester player to not feature for his country during the international break, with the likes of Daniel Amartey, Danny Drinkwater, Ben Chilwell and Shinji Okazaki also failing to see any action, but Ranieri believes that could be beneficial for his side.

“But it wasn’t only Jamie. Also [Daniel] Amartey, [Danny] Drinkwater, Ben Chilwell, Shinji Okazaki – a lot of my players went around the world without playing. hat’s good.

They recover a little more,” he said. Leicester have only won one of their opening three league matches this season, but they are available at 5.00 to win the match, while Liverpool are quoted 1.67 and the draw is priced at 3.80.