(Reuters) - Former Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare has backed the Premier League club to regain their best form and climb out of the relegation zone.
Shakespeare took over from Claudio Ranieri on an interim basis in February and was handed a permanent deal in June after Leicester finished 12th in the league and reached the Champions League quarter-finals.
The 53-year-old was sacked on Tuesday after last weekend's 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion dropped the club to 18th in the table after just one win in eight league games.
"My sincere thanks to the players, who have always been a pleasure to work with," Shakespeare said in a statement to the League Managers Association.
"I have every confidence that, given time and once at full strength, this squad will pull away from its current Premier League position, and soon deliver the high levels of performance they have demonstrated over the past three seasons."
Assistant coach Michael Appleton has been appointed caretaker manager and will oversee his first match when Leicester travel to Swansea City on Saturday.
(Reporting by Aditi Prakash in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
