Jamie Vardy: Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri labels striker 'a big champion' after sending Foxes top of the Premier League

Vardy has the chance to break Ruud van Nistelrooy's record at Manchester United next week

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Claudio Ranieri labelled Leicester City goal hero Jamie Vardy as a 'champion' after the England striker scored for a record-equalling 10th game in a row.

Vardy was playing non-League football for Fleetwood Town as recently as 2012, but managed to draw level with former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who also scored in 10 consecutive matches in 2003.

Leonardo Ulloa and Shinji Okazaki were also on target as the surprise-package Foxes went top of the table after Arsenal slipped up at West Bromwich Albion.

"I am very, very happy for his performance,” said the Italian about Vardy. "It is not easy. He is a big champion. I want to say well done and thank you because when a manager has a striker who is scoring goals, he is very happy. The team [had] a fantastic performance today."

The 28-year-old will have the chance to eclipse Van Nistelrooy's achievement when Leicester face his old club United in seven days' time in the midlands.

The Dutchman had posted a message on Instagram on Friday encouraging Vardy in his pursuit of the record, a fact the England international was made aware of prior to kick-off.

And the universal admiration for Vardy was evident at St James' Park too as Newcastle fans applauded him off at the interval and when he was substituted with 13 minutes remaining.

Ranieri praised the Newcastle fans for their appreciation of Vardy and likened it to the response opposing fans used to give likeable Chelsea forward Gianfranco Zola.

"It's fantastic, I love the English spirit," Ranieri added. "It's not important, the shirt, it's how the players play. That was the same when I managed Zola. I want to also say thank you to all the fans who clapped Jamie."

Vardy helped Leicester win for the fourth time in five games to keep them in the table's upper reaches.

However, their Italian boss would rather focus on the fact it took them to 28 points, 12 shy of the 40-point mark teams bid to reach to ensure survival.

"I say every time I want to see the horses at the end of the race, now it's not important," Ranieri stressed.

"It's important for us because it's important we have 28 points, 12 (more) and we achieve our goal. After, we can speak about other things but now we are very, very focused on our goal."

While Newcastle fans may have admired Vardy's efforts, they were left deflated by their own team's performance.

A 71st-minute header from Georginio Wijnaldum that was cleared off the line was their only attempt on target in the entire game and Magpies boss Steve McClaren pulled no punches in his assessment.

"I think that's our worst performance of the season," he said.

"We talked about it a little bit yesterday - the last five or six games, the level of performance, we've seen progression. We're going to get setbacks along the way, still, before we get that consistency and today was a perfect example of that.

"Granted, I thought the opponents were excellent. It shows the example of a team that a year ago were near the bottom of the league and are now at the top of the league.

"That's how quickly it can change but it can only change by certain ways, things and performances. Consistency is one; at the moment we've not got that."

Additional reporting from PA