Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri allayed fears of a possible injury to goal scorer Riyad Mahrez while refusing to accept his side's path to the Premier League title is any easier following Saturday's 1-0 win at Watford.
Mahrez pulled up with what appeared to be an injury while chasing the ball down in the 78th minute. He stayed on the pitch for an additional seven minutes before being replaced by Daniel Amartey, but Ranieri said after the game that there was no cause for concern.
"There's no injury," Ranieri said in his television interview after the game. "Just that he was tired, maybe a little cramp, and then I changed him in just the last minute to give more support to the midfield."
The victory puts Leciester five points clear of Tottenham and the rest of the pack in the Premier League, and Ranieri said he was glad that the Foxes were able to make their superiority count at Watford.
"Important win, big battle. We knew that, but now there will be only battle, for everbody, not only us," he said. "It was a tough match. Of course we wanted to win. And we created four, five chances -- one we scored -- and they created two or three.
"It was an open match that both teams wanted to win, and we are so happy now.
"We want to show what we have inside. The desire is so high. We have a great opportunity, but we know the way is very long, is very tough."
Leicester's next two games are against struggling sides Newcastle and Crystal Palace, with games against Sunderland and Swansea still remaining on their nine-game run-in, but Ranieri said the state of their opponents will not matter as teams fight to avoid relegation.
"The title is not ours. We have to fight again, a lot, step by step. We have to maintain our feet on the ground, and continue to fight, and just at the end we can say what happened," he said.
"Every match is this way. Every team can win or lose because a lot of teams are fighting to remain in the Premier League."
Ranieri did say he appreciated the support of neutral fans who are backing the Foxes to win the unlikeliest of trophies.
"Yeah, I feel this because a lot of people stop me on the way, and say how, 'If I can't win I want Leicester to win the title.' Thank you," he said. "There is good energy behind us and we must continue with this energy."