Leicester City v Middlesbrough: Finn Azaz defiant in face of Foxes as he declares 'they're not world-beaters'

Michael Carrick’s side have not won in the Championship for over a month.

Leicester, on the other hand, have kept their foot firmly on the gas as they continue to race towards the Premier League.

The Foxes will be the favourites to emerge victorious but Middlesbrough midfielder Finn Azaz has insisted there is no shortage of confidence at the Riverside.

He said: “It's going to be tough. Obviously the table shows that they're probably one of the best Championship sides ever at the minute. The gaffer's spoke about [how] we beat them before, who says we can't beat them again?

"I still think they're not world-beaters and we'll be confident being a big club, a big side ourselves. We'll go into it with confidence.

"We have to believe that we should go in and win every game. From every game I've been involved in so far, I feel, we feel, we've been the dominant side.

"That's playing against big teams, there's no small teams in this league. That's playing against a variety of different sides, so I think we'll definitely be going into it with belief.”

Leicester have won admirers for their ball retention, even if they have not been as probing as their fans would have liked at times.

Plenty of Championship sides have visited the King Power Stadium content to see little of the ball. However, it does not appear Middlesbrough will be happy sitting tight.

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Azaz said: “It's going to be a battle for possession. But we'll have that belief that we can go and win that battle. We're obviously very good with possession.

"I'd say they're more of a threat, we're looking at their threat from the wide players, from their forward players, [who are] are really good. We'll look to nullify that by keeping the ball. It's the best way of defending against them.”

Even the smallest of slumps can send sides plummeting down the league, such is the ruthless nature of the Championship.

Boro have slid into 13th place but Azaz believes there is enough time to reverse fortunes.

He said: “I think there's definitely long enough. We're staying positive, there's still 15 games, it's a lot of games. Obviously I'm aware of what happened at the start of the season with the not getting a win in a few games and then winning a lot on the bounce. So, we know it's possible.”