From benchwarmer to matchwinner, Kelechi Iheanacho has received commendations from England’s top football icons, including his coach, Brendan Rodgers, following the team’s 1-1 draw against Southampton on Friday night.

Fondly called, ‘Seniorman Kelz’ by his teammate and compatriot, Wilfred Ndidi, Iheanacho has defied critics and weathered the storm to become Rodgers’ favourite alongside the ever-consistent Jamie Vardy.

Iheanacho has doubled his season tally for last season (five) with few games left in the season, and when he is not scoring, the Nigerian is assisting his team to score.

The Foxes were on the verge of a defeat to 10-man Soton last night after his handball gave the hosts the lead but he made up for the error by setting up Johnny Evans to bag the equaliser seven minutes later.

Recall that the Super Eagle assisted the equaliser and scored the winner as the Foxes beat Crystal Palace 2-1 to strengthen their pursuit for Champions League qualification.

His confidence up-front has kept Leicester third on the Premier League table as well as a qualification for the FA Cup finals against Chelsea on May 15.

With 14 goals in his last 14 appearances for Leicester in all competitions (10 in the Premier League) Iheanacho has moved from flop to the Foxes’ top scorer this season with 17 goals, the first time since 2014-15 that Jamie Vardy would be behind on the club’s top scorer’s chart.

Only Harry Kane (18) has been involved in more goals than Iheanacho (15) among Premier League players in all competitions this year.

Speaking after the game, Iheanacho told BBC Sport: “That [race to be top scorer] is not what we talk about. As a team we work for each other, it doesn’t matter who scores the goals.

“There’s so much to improve in games so I’ll keep going, keep doing my best.”

Boss Brendan Rodgers said: “Over the last few months Kelechi has been absolutely incredible. It wasn’t just his goal but his work rate, he wants to press the game. He has no ego whatsoever and he works so hard.”

Rodgers said: “The top priority for me as a coach is helping players to develop. It’s been difficult for Kels because of the style we normally played which was one striker – Jamie Vardy.

“We had to change it round with injuries, he’s come in and been exceptional. Not just his goals, he’s so happy to work hard for the team and his quality is phenomenal.”

Iheanacho won the Premier League player of the Month for March and his performance in all competition in April could earn him the award back to back.