Danny Drinkwater: Leicester ready for tough Premier League start

Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater says the Foxes are ready for their Premier League return.

Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater insists their return to the Premier League will not be defined by difficult early fixtures.

The Foxes will start their 2014-15 campaign at home against Everton.

Leicester's first month back in the top-flight also includes a trip to Chelsea and a home game with Arsenal.

"We will definitely be ready, but it's not the be all and end all if we got off to a bad start," 24-year-old Drinkwater told BBC Radio Leicester.

"Everyone would love a good start, it would put us on a nice roll in our first Premier League season."

The former Manchester United trainee, who signed a new four-year deal with Leicester this week, said cup games with top-flight opposition during their Championship title-winning season last term has helped prepare Leicester for life back in the Premier League after a decade.

They beat Fulham to progress to the last eight of the Capital One Cup before being beaten by eventual winners Manchester City, who they will meet again at the King Power Stadium on 13 December.

Before that, Leicester will return to the Britannia Stadium, where their FA Cup hopes were ended by Stoke in the third round earlier this year, on 13 September.

"It was not a bad benchmark. They were all cup games, but still they all had massive quality in the squads," said Drinkwater.