The Foxes have not picked up three points since a 5-3 victory over Manchester United in September and face a Villans side buoyed by a 1-0 triumph over Crystal Palace.

Nigel Pearson insists that he and his Leicester City side have no fear as they bid to end a nine-match Premier League winless run at Aston Villa on Sunday.

Not since September's exhilarating 5-3 victory over Manchester United have the Foxes clinched three points in England's top flight.

Leicester's lean spell has seen the pressure grow on manager Pearson - a situation not helped by his well-publicised spat with a supporter in Wednesday's 3-1 defeat at home to Liverpool.

The situation for the bottom side in the Premier League may look bleak but Pearson is adamant that fear of defeat will not come into play at Villa Park on Sunday.

"There's no point fearing anything, to be honest," he told reporters. "I would understand that there is a feeling of added pressure, when you're in a results business, you can't get away with it. But fear it? No, of course I don't. Fear would inhibit how you try to work."

Leicester's cause against Liverpool was not helped by a 63rd-minute red card for captain Wes Morgan when the scoreline was 2-1. The defender now misses the visit to Villa and Pearson confirmed that Liam Moore is likely to return at centre-back in his place.

Villa have endured struggles of their own in recent months but some of the gloom at the club was lifted by Tuesday's battling 1-0 win at Crystal Palace.

Paul Lambert's men had also gone nine matches without a victory before Christian Benteke returned from a three-match suspension to score the only goal of the game in the first half at Selhurst Park.

Benteke's strike was his first since March - the lean spell largely down to a torn Achilles sustained in April - and the Belgium international will be relishing coming up against a Leicester defence who have conceded 24 goals in 14 Premier League games.

Another man keen to hit the goal trail at Villa is Andreas Weimann, who has netted three times in the league in 2014-15.

"If you look at the games, I've not really played as a striker," he told Villa's official website. "In a lot of the games I've played as a winger or a midfielder so getting double figures is tough but I will try my best. I want to get as many as I can."

Lambert is unable to call on Joe Cole, who lasted just nine minutes against Palace before coming off with a hamstring injury, while Philippe Senderos, Ron Vlaar (both calf), Nathan Baker, Fabian Delph (both knee) and Libor Kozak (broken leg) are all unavailable.

Leicester have a doubt over David Nugent (illness), while Dean Hammond (calf) and Matthew Upson (foot) remain absent.