'We were top at Christmas, but beating Liverpool and Man City was when we truly believed we could win the title' Danny Simpson reveals turning point in Leicester City Premier League triumph

Leicester City will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their incredible Premier League title next month.

The Foxes were 5,000/1 with bookmakers to lift the trophy when the 2015/16 season began, but Claudio Ranieri's side kicked on after a fast start and eventually finished 10 points clear of second-placed Arsenal.

Those days seem a long time ago now, with Leicester facing relegation from the Championship to League One this term after a catastrophic campaign on and off the pitch.

'My life changed that season' Danny Simpson remembers Leicester's extraordinary Premier League title triumph

The Foxes had been among the pre-season favourites for relegation from the Premier League in 2015/16, after surviving only thanks to a run of seven wins in their final nine games in the previous campaign.

Despite being top of the table at Christmas and three points clear at the end of January, many fans and pundits thought a tough run of fixtures against Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal in early February would prove a reality check.

But they beat the Reds 2-0, with Jamie Vardy scoring a long-range volley, before Riyad Mahrez's double helped Leicester win 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium to move five points clear at the summit.

"We were top of the table at Christmas and everyone said if you’re top then, you normally win the league," Foxes right back Danny Simpson told FourFourTwo.

"At that point we thought, ‘Well, probably not…’ But we played Liverpool at home, Manchester City away, Arsenal away, and you’d take three draws.

"Liverpool was the 30-yard Jamie Vardy volley, we beat them, then went to the Etihad and won again. That was when we started to believe."

A last-gasp 2-1 defeat at Arsenal raised fears of a collapse, but Leicester did not lose another game all season and their title was confirmed with two matches to spare.

Like many of his team-mates, it was by far the biggest achievement of Simpson's career, with the defender having previously won a pair of Championship crowns with Newcastle United and Sunderland.

The Manchester United academy graduate joined the newly-promoted Foxes from Queens Park Rangers in August 2014, having helped the West London club gain promotion via the play-offs a few months earlier.

But Simpson made just 18 appearances in his first campaign and revealed his lack of game-time almost saw him miss out on Leicester's extraordinary triumph the following season.

Simpson said: "When I moved to Leicester from QPR, both clubs had been promoted [in 2013-14] – I’d been a big part of that QPR side, but Harry Redknapp signed Rio Ferdinand and wanted to play three at the back. I’d never grown up as a wing-back, so he said I could leave.

"It was tough at first because Ritchie De Laet was Leicester’s right-back and I didn’t play many games that season. Then Claudio Ranieri came in and he wasn’t really convinced I was going to play, so he said I could go – I was in the under-23s for the first six weeks of the title-winning season, I didn’t even train with the first team.

"But I kept my head down and worked hard, because I loved the club, I loved the dressing room and I didn’t want to leave. It was a good bunch of people, the staff too, everyone was close – it was a good environment with how the owner managed people. Normally when a manager says he wants you to leave, you leave. But I was happy there.

"Claudio pulled me into the office and said, “Your attitude is amazing, keep doing what you’re doing”, so he must have had reservations about Ritchie.

"Then we lost 5-2 at home to Arsenal in September and Claudio pulled me aside again. He told me, “You’re starting the next game, be ready.” He apologised for saying that I could leave in the summer.

"The next game was at Norwich, I was cramping up because I hadn’t played, but we won it and I never looked back from there. My life changed that season."