Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has told supporters to "dream" as they prepare to take on Manchester City on Saturday in what could be a defining match in their Premier League title race.

Twelve months ago the Foxes were fighting for survival under former manager Nigel Pearson and now, under the guidance of Ranieri, the club are at the top of the table with a three-point advantage.

This weekend, they could potentially stretch their lead to six points if they overcome City at the Etihad Stadium.

"Even if we win, and we try to win, then we can still lose at Arsenal," Ranieri told reporters. "We want our fans to dream, but we know it's a tough match and from now on there will only be tough matches.

"We must continue in this way. I told my players that we made 39 points in the first half [of the season] so I want 40 points from the second half - one more. We have to take two points every match between now and the end of the season to arrive at 79 points. I don't know if it will be good enough to win [the title], but I want to improve.

"If we don't improve, we've still had a fantastic season but we've slowed down. We believe in the next match. We believe we are working well. We believe. Sooner or later we will lose, but nothing must change."

Leicester have only lost two of their 24 league matches this season.