Dean Smith explains why James Maddison and Harvey Barnes on Leicester City bench at Newcastle

Dean Smith has dropped James Maddison and Harvey Barnes to make Leicester City “harder to beat” in their crucial Premier League clash at Newcastle.

City’s fate is back in their own hands, with two victories from their final two games extremely likely to secure their Premier League status. However, at St James’ Park, Smith has left both of the team’s top two scorers on the bench. In recent weeks, Maddison and Barnes have been linked with summer transfers to Newcastle.

Smith has explained that he wanted to bolster the defence against Champions League-chasing Newcastle, while also making the team stronger at set-pieces, with Harry Souttar among those brought in to fit a 5-3-2 shape. City have gone 21 games without a clean sheet in the Premier League, a run that goes back to November.

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READ MORE: Leicester City team news v Newcastle: James Maddison and Harvey Barnes dropped

While Smith has admitted his focus is on the defence, he said he is not settling for a draw. He insists he is still setting up City to win.

“We decided to change it,” Smith told Sky Sports. “We need to be harder to beat. The last couple of games, we have needed lots of goals to win them so we needed to make a change. We picked a team we feel can compete.

“I had to think long and hard about it. Watching the (Newcastle) game against Brighton, the first two goals are from set-pieces and I wanted another centre-back in the team.

“They (Barnes and Maddison) were professional about it. I want them to be disappointed if they’re not playing but they see the bigger picture and understand why.

“With both Kelechi Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy, we’re not coming here just to not get beat but to win the game. We want to create chances as well and be competitive against a good team.

“The good thing is before the weekend started it wasn’t in our hands but it is for now. We want to keep it that way.”

As well as Souttar and Iheanacho, Luke Thomas has also been brought into the side. Ricardo Pereira is the third player to make way, with the Portuguese full-back not even in the squad.