Pearson hails 'unbelievable' Leicester achievement

LONDON (Reuters) - Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson paid tribute to his team's mental strength and resilience after ensuring their Premier League survival against all the odds with a 0-0 draw at Sunderland on Saturday. The Foxes looked doomed to relegation after spending the season encamped in the bottom three but a run of six wins in seven games lifted them out of the drop zone and a point at Sunderland completed the job. "When you consider our plight a couple of months ago, to go into the final game with our safety assured is quite an unbelievable achievement," Pearson told the BBC. "I think the key thing for us even in our darkest moments, and there have been a few, the players have continued to support each other and believe in their own ability. "That's difficult when people are questioning your integrity. "We've developed as the season has gone on. This run has been extraordinary, but we've needed to do it, because a number of sides have picked up form. We've stuck at our job." Pearson has courted controversy himself this season, being overheard verbally abusing a Leicester fan and recently describing a reporter as an ostrich during a news conference. "There are always going to be doubts about managers," he told Sky Sports. "I may have intensified one or two storms, but I work the way I work and you can either like me or lump me." (Reporting by Ed Osmond)