Leicester City's Riyad Mahrez blames fixture list for Craig Shakespeare sacking

Leicester City star Riyad Mahrez has claimed that the team's fixture list has contributed to the problems at the King Power Stadium.

The 2015-16 Premier League champions announced the sacking of Craig Shakespeare earlier this week, just eight games into the season.

The 53-year-old was appointed as Claudio Ranieri's permanent successor just four months ago, but a run of three defeats and three draws caused the club's owners to make a change.

Mahrez believes that the Foxes were handed a tough fixture list, with games against Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool pencilled in for their opening six games of the season.

"We've had a bad start with the schedule - we have had a lot of big teams," The Mirror quotes the winger as saying. "We're getting better. Of course, this is a big game for us at Swansea City [on Saturday] and we will try to bring something from there."

Leicester are currently two points from safety.