Fleetwood Town 0-0 Leicester City

League One Fleetwood held Leicester City to a goalless draw at Highbury in the FA Cup third round to earn a replay at the King Power Stadium.

Ex-Fleetwood striker Jamie Vardy was left out of the Leicester squad by manager Claude Puel having failed to recover fully from a groin injury.

The Premier League side did not manage a shot on target in his absence and withstood huge pressure from the hosts.

Ashley Hunter was denied a late winner when his deflected shot hit the post.

Fleetwood have never progressed beyond the third round of the competition.

No fairytale return for Vardy

Vardy's most recent goal in the FA Cup was for Fleetwood against Blackpool in 2012

When the two clubs met in this season's EFL Trophy, with Fleetwood beating Leicester's under-23 side 3-0, the game was watched by just 517 fans.

Saturday's FA Cup tie at Highbury drew a packed crowd of 5,001 - but having been billed as the 'Vardy derby', the 30-year-old England striker ended up watching from the stands - and the game suffered as a consequence.

Vardy scored 34 goals in the 2011-12 season as Fleetwood won the Conference title, but Foxes manager Claude Puel chose "not to risk" him in a seemingly routine third-round tie against lower-league opposition.

Puel made eight changes to the team who beat Huddersfield 3-0 on New Year's Day, but his side lacked pace and quality against a well-drilled home side.

Islam Slimani was given the nod at centre-forward with summer signing Kelechi Iheanacho, who has scored just three goals in 11 appearances since joining from Manchester City, left on the bench.

And Algeria international Slimani had just 24 touches on a frustrating afternoon before being replaced by Iheanacho.

Puel had been warned - Leicester were knocked out by League One opposition last season, losing 1-0 away to Millwall in the fifth round.

Fleetwood the better side

Hunter hit the woodwork with Fleetwood's final chance of the game

In their first competitive match against a team in the top flight, Fleetwood looked perfectly at home against Premier League opposition.

Uwe Rosler's side were unlucky not to have been awarded an indirect free-kick after just 10 minutes when Eldin Jakupovic was forced to turn Aleksandar Dragovic's back-pass round the post.

But the hosts were only awarded a corner and Wes Burns failed to find the target with a free header from the centre of the box.

On the hour, the Cod Army began to dictate the tempo as the Premier League champions of two seasons ago looked wobbly.

Ashley Hunter - who was lively all afternoon - sped away down the left past Adrien Silva and Daniel Amartey, but his low cross was blocked by Yohan Benalouane at the near post.

Cian Bulger headed wide from his side's ninth corner with 10 minutes to play before Hunter almost stole the headlines - but Foxes keeper Eldin Jakupovic mopped up as his shot bounced off the post.

Fleetwood chairman Andy Pilley, who sold Vardy to Leicester for £1m in 2012, was stuck on a cruise off the coast of Haiti for Saturday's tie and only able to watch the match by satellite link.

But he will return with his side in the hat for the fourth round, still in with the chance of progressing beyond the third round for the first time.

'We could have won it' - what the managers said

Fleetwood boss Uwe Rosler: "Leicester are eighth in the Premier League, they're a strong team, but we thoroughly deserved the draw and I think we could have won it.

"Our young players - and we have a lot of them - showed a lot of ability today but also game management.

"We took them right to the wire and unfortunately we didn't win it. We are developing young players and every game against opposition like that, in a stadium like Leicester's, gives us massive experience and we will benefit from that."

Leicester manager Claude Puel on making eight changes: "We had lot of injuries.

"I pick a team to win the game [after considering] the fitness level of my players after four games in 10 days.

"We had a good team on the pitch but it was not enough. Congratulations to Fleetwood."