Nigel Pearson remains Leicester City manager after night of confusion at bottom club

Premier League's bottom club respond to speculation

(Getty)

A remarkable evening of drama ended with Leicester City refuting claims they had sacked manager Nigel Pearson.

Confusion circled the King Power Stadium after reports emerged suggesting the 51-year-old had been relieved of his duties just 24 hours after becoming embroiled in a peculiar touchline altercation with James McArthur during the 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.

It is understood the former Southampton and Hull City manager was lead to believe his time was up in the East Midlands, only for the Foxes to later release a statement confirming he will be in charge for the visit to Arsenal tomorrow night.

Nigel Pearson and James McArthur were involved in an altercation (GETTY IMAGES)

After four hours of complete silence, during which bookmakers had started taking bets on Pearson's prospective replacement, Leicester finally issued a statement refuting the claims.

The Premier League's bottom club said: "Contrary to media speculation on Sunday evening, Nigel remains the Club’s First Team Manager. Reports to the contrary are inaccurate and without foundation.

"Nigel, his staff and the first team squad are entirely focused on Tuesday night’s trip to Arsenal and our continued efforts to secure our position in the Barclays Premier League."

According to reports elsewhere in the media, however, it is believed that Pearson was summoned to discussions with the board following their 15th loss of the season to Alan Pardew's Eagles.

Leicester fans have largely remained loyal to their manager (Getty Images)

News soon appeared to suggest that the City manager's second spell in charge had come to an abrupt end, with the bizarre incident with McArthur playing a definitive role in the decision.

Earlier in the campaign, during a 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool, Pearson was filmed shouting expletives towards a member of the crowd at the King Power Stadium and was fined £10,000 and given a one-match touchline ban by the Football Association.

Following a disappointing summer of transfer activity, in which the club signed Esteban Cambiasso and Leonardo Ulloa but missed out on other targets, the club backed their manager and dismissed director of football Terry Robinson instead.

The Leicester boss is set to face the media this afternoon (Monday) where he is expected to shed some light onto the confusing saga.

Nigel Pearson had lead Leicester to title wins in both the Championship and League One (Getty)

In the meantime, it remains to be seen whether the club's hierarchy are fully behind their manager or this reprieve is simply a stay of execution.

Since the remarkable 5-3 win over Manchester United in September, Leicester have picked up just nine points from a possible 57 and are rock bottom of the table.

Across two spells with the Foxes, Pearson has lifted both the Championship and League One titles but has so far flattered to deceive in the Premier League.

With Pearson now at the helm for the foreseeable future, however, Leicester must prepare for a tough run of fixtures which includes Tuesday night's clash with Arsene Wenger's Gunners before trips to Manchester City, Everton and Tottenham.