As he handles Leicester City’s striker problem, the manager reveals why he makes top-player substitutions.

The new manager got all three of his strikers onto the pitch at Manchester City, with Kelechi Iheanacho scoring a consolation after replacing Jamie Vardy at half-time

Dean Smith wants Leicester City’s three strikers to fire to safety after admitting they hadn’t scored enough goals this season.

The new boss got his first look at Jamie Vardy, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Patson Daka in the weekend’s loss to Manchester City in which Iheanacho scored the consolation. That was the 15th goal the trio has scored collectively this term, but it pales in comparison to the 36 they bagged last season.

Vardy has struggled in particular. He has only scored one goal in the Premier League this season and has now gone 532 minutes without even registering a shot on goal, a streak that began in early January.

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It’s been a steep drop for the number nine, who had the highest goals-per-game ratio in the Premier League the previous season. He started at center for Smith’s debut.

“It’s fresh eyes on a new player for us,” Smith said on Vardy. “He’s been here for a long time and Craig Shakespeare has a relationship with him already. He’s worked with him and knows him.

“In Vards, Kel, and Patson, we have three players who can hurt teams and we have to make sure that between the three of them, we are hurting them. I think all three would agree we haven’t got the goals we should do. We have to come up with a plan to try to get them the opportunities to score goals.”

Vardy was substituted at half-time at the Etihad Stadium, with Iheanacho coming on. Both players only had nine touches, but while Vardy failed to register a shot, Iheanacho managed three, scoring and then hitting the post in injury time.

Smith said: “I had the chat with Vards and the group in general. I said: ‘I’ve picked a team but I can guarantee after 70 minutes that won’t be the ones who are on the pitch.’ This is a squad game now and the squad is going to be very important to us.

“I just felt it was tough for a few of the lads out there. Vards was starved of service. We never made contact with him in the first half and I just wanted us to be more aggressive and I thought Kel would help us to connect better once we won the ball back.”