Leicester manager Enzo Maresca admitted there was a sense of relief as his side completed a 3-1 victory over Norwich.
Maresca’s side had to come from a goal down before making sure of a result which put them back on top of the table before the evening fixtures.
Leicester gifted Norwich’s Gabriel Sara the opening goal from a corner, before responding with goals from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Stephy Mavididi and Jamie Vardy, a 77th-minute substitute.
Maresca’s relief came after a poor six-game run and he said: “It was especially for the moment, because for different reasons, we didn’t win so many games.
“So this was important, because we are in the final part of the season. But then we started by conceding a goal, and 1-0 down from a corner, we needed to be mentally strong.
“But after that, the game was completely in our control, we dominated.
“Probably in the last six games, we won one game and it was the one we didn’t deserve – Sunderland.
“We lost four games, and not one of them we deserved to lose.
“At the end, we are human beings – we have emotions so when we scored the last one with Jamie, the game was finished, so we were all happy and we enjoyed the moment.”
Maresca called for unity from the supporters in his programme notes, and he made it clear his style of football would not be changing, even though Leicester’s promotion credentials have been called into question.
The Italian coach added: “I think the fans were there, we tried to make them happy by winning the game. I can understand that, for them, it’s the only thing that matters
“But I know that sometimes they want us to attack, and be more direct, but it’s never going to happen while I’m here.”
Norwich manager David Wagner accepted that his side’s performance was not good enough as they chase a play-off place.
Wagner’s side’s form in their previous six games had only been bettered by Ipswich and Leeds.
But the German coach said: “We’re better than what we showed here. This is disappointing, but it can happen.
“I’ll quickly put this to bed because we’ll speak about the truth. I have so much trust and belief in the guys, I know they’ll have the biggest fire in their belly for the Ipswich game.
“The positives were that we scored a super set-piece goal, so credit to our set-piece department for that.
“But I felt we were well organised until their second goal. In ball possession though, we were below par. We’ve been better in recent weeks, but that doesn’t mean we should automatically have won the game.
“We not good enough to get some points out of this game. So we’ll work on it and analyse it.
“It was very clear that too many individuals did not do what they are capable of doing. But they are humans and for us to make sure that everybody is on the same page and our demands are higher than what we showed here.”
Former Spain boss Del Bosque to oversee RFEF
Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque will oversee a new committee supervising the RFEF.
Spain, which is due to be one of six host countries for the 2030 World Cup, announced the creation of a special committee until the federation holds elections to replace Luis Rubiales.
That is despite Pedro Rocha having this week been appointed as Rubiales' replacement, though he himself is under investigation amid a corruption probe.
Rubiales was dismissed following his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the Women's World Cup trophy ceremony in 2023.
The federation's former president was then arrested in early April as part of a corruption investigation.
Del Bosque led Spain to three consecutive trophies, winning the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while also leading the team to their first World Cup success in 2010.
Prior to his time with the national team, he also won two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles while in charge of Real Madrid, where he made over 400 appearances as a player.
Vardy eyes 100-point season after Leicester's title win
Jamie Vardy has challenged his Leicester City team-mates to reach 100 points after sealing the Championship title with one game to spare.
The Foxes were promoted back to the Premier League without kicking a ball after Leeds United’s 4-0 defeat to QPR on Friday, but they needed to win on Monday to earn top spot.
Enzo Maresca’s side cruised to a 3-0 victory over Preston through Vardy’s brace and Kasey McAteer’s header, moving them to 97 points.
With one last milestone in their reach, Vardy wants to make sure they end an already successful season on a high.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “We can celebrate it tonight, but now we have another target which is 100 points.
“We are over the moon. It has gone by quick but it's a graft. Not many days off, I'll tell you that.
“The lads - they've given it all. Thoroughly deserved, and I'm glad we've had 5000 to come and celebrate with us. It's not like it's 20 minutes up the road."
After a run of just three victories from nine games in the league between mid-February and April, Leicester have now won each of their last three outings.
Maresca has praised his players for their hard work in what he labelled a “tough season”.
“Fantastic, it's been a fantastic season. The Championship is a tough season and very intense, but I'm very happy," said Maresca.
"Now it's time to enjoy the work of the season to bring this special club back to the Premier League. We deserve it.
“The last two days they have been fantastic. We got promoted, but it was difficult in game preparation. But we used all of today to prepare for the game, the morning and afternoon. It was good.”
Preston 0-3 Leicester City: Foxes seal Championship title in style
Leicester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston in the Championship on Monday to clinch the title with a game to spare.
Jamie Vardy was the star for the Foxes as he scored in both halves before Kasey McAteer made sure of the points with an unmarked header.
Abdul Fatawu had the chance to cap an already memorable night for the travelling fans but hit the post with his curler.
Preston slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, while Leicester go into their final game against Blackburn Rovers with the knowledge that they will lift the trophy after the final whistle.
Data Debrief
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals this season (two in this game), more than any other Leicester player in the competition. He has also netted in his last three games, scoring four goals in total.
It was a dominant performance from the Foxes, who had 19 shots with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Preston only managed to test Jakub Stolarczyk once from their five attempts.
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