Aaron Ramsey made his long-awaited return from injury, but another Wales international midfielder stole the headlines as Leicester deservedly defeated Nottingham Forest 1-0 at the Walkers Stadium.
As the on-loan Arsenal teenager prepared to come on as a substitute for his first taste of competitive football since suffering a broken leg at Stoke in February, Leicester's leading scorer Andy King struck his eighth npower Championship goal of the season after 59 minutes.
The potential return of Ramsey dominated the pre-match build up but he started on the bench alongside fellow new loan signing Marcus Tudgay as Forest boss Billy Davies made one change.
Paul Anderson came back into the side in place of Rob Earnshaw, who was among the substitutes.
Leicester also bolstered their squad with two loan signings last week and West Brom striker Roman Bednar made his debut at the expense of Steve Howard in the only change made by Sven-Goran Eriksson.
A back injury robbed Chris Kirkland of the chance to make his debut and the Wigan goalkeeper did not make the squad.
Leicester stroked the ball around confidently for the opening 15 minutes but it was all in front of Forest, who had the first chance when defender Wes Morgan headed wide.
Forest went close again midway through the first half but Dele Adebola could not get his volley from Garath McCleary's cross on target.
Bednar was denied a debut goal when Luke Chambers blocked his shot a yard in front of his own line and Lee Camp produced a point-blank save to deny the Czech striker's former West Brom team-mate Curtis Davies from the rebound.
A misplaced header from Jack Hobbs gifted Earnshaw, on as a 36th-minute replacement for the injured Adebola, a chance.
But with just Chris Weale to beat he was quickly closed down by the Leicester goalkeeper and his shot was blocked.
Chambers got back to clear off his own line again in the final minute of the first half after Darius Vassell nicked King's header beyond Camp, while Paul Gallacher flashed a shot just wide soon afterwards.
Leicester picked up where they had left off at the end of the first half at the start of the second, Vassell flicking the ball into Richie Wellens but Camp blocking brilliantly again.
However, there was nothing the Forest goalkeeper could do to prevent Leicester scoring just before the hour.
Vassell barged his way into the box through a couple of tackles before squaring the ball to King, who had the simple task of sweeping home from inside the six-yard box.
Ramsey immediately entered the action in place of Chris Cohen, but his introduction did little to lift Forest.
Vassell continued to terrorise the Forest defence and set up Gallacher, who dragged his shot wide. King then curled a shot just past the far post from the left side of the box.
At the other end, Weale reacted well to push over a thunderous effort from Nathan Tyson that came through a crowded penalty area in the 75th minute.
It was mere respite for Camp, who was called into action once more with three minutes remaining to tip over a close-range shot from substitute Howard.
- Leicester City 1-0 Nottingham Forest: As it happened
Source: DSG
