Leicester boss Claude Puel feels his side face a tough battle if they are to finish in the top-half of the Premier League this season given the spending of their direct rivals.

The Foxes currently sit eighth in the top-flight standings, a point behind Watford, while the likes of West Ham, Everton and Wolves sit just behind Puel’s team.

Leicester have spent relatively little in the transfer market since Puel was appointed manager in October 2017 and they are not expected to add to their squad significantly during this month’s transfer window.

Indeed, the likes of West Ham, Everton and Wolves have spent double the amount Leicester have on transfer fees during Puel’s time at the club and the Frenchman feels that underlines just how tough it will be for the Foxes to maintain their current standing in the division.

“We forget the level of the Premier League,” Puel told the Leicester Mercury.

“We have six top teams in front of us with fantastic squads and with great players who they have spent lot of money on.

“Then we have other teams like West Ham, Wolves and Everton who have spent a lot of money – more money than us.

“Yet those good players in other teams want the same as us. So we must compete and have this fighting spirit to try and maintain our position in the top half of table. We’ll see where we are in the end but it will be tough.”

Leicester will face one of their rivals when they travel to Molineux to take on Wolves on Saturday and they are priced at 3.40 to win that match, while Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are available at 2.30 and the draw is on offer at 3.10.