Next up its (sort of) Boudicca v Richard III. Now to fight and bury the ghosts of those past away defeats

There is a theory amongst Leicester fans that their extraordinary upturn in fortunes is all down to King Richard III (1452-1485). Or, to be more specific, his bones.

After his famously crooked spine was unearthed under a car park in the city, eventually his bones were re-interred at Leicester Cathedral on 26th March 2015.

On that date, the football team were bottom of the Premier League on 19 points, a goal difference of minus 21 and with just nine games left to save their season from ending in the drop.

The rest is the stuff of legend, very much like the exploits of Dick 3 (as the Americans would call him).

Leicester won seven and drew one of those nine and comfortably survived, largely at the expense of Hull who had been nine points ahead of them on that day in March.

They also play in the King Power Stadium – surely just a bizarre coincidence?

Fast forward to this coming weekend, just a few weeks shy of the first anniversary, and the Foxes next opponents in their freakishly unlikely charge for the title for are a struggling and confidence-battered Norwich City.

With 12 games to go, our boys sit six points better off than Leicester at the same point last season – with practically the same goal difference – and yet we seem to be everyone’s favourites (including many Canary fans) for the drop, much as our opponents almost certainly were then.

It’s going to take a massive show of character and luck for us to put a dent in their adrenalin-fuelled charge on Saturday.

Three away points would be huge and unexpected, one point a big bonus – either would provide a much needed shot in the arm for the remaining 11 battles to come.

Character is the operative word – a quality which for many has been the main missing ingredient this season as it was the one before last.

The character of individuals and a team are only properly tested when events are going badly, when the world seems to be against you. For us that very scenario is upon us.

It’s at times like these when you need people who will stand shoulder to shoulder in the metaphorical trenches and come out fighting. It’s what Leicester did back in 2015.

In footballing terms, that means scrapping for every ball, giving it 100 per cent and having the belief and ability to come from behind to rescue a result when needed.

So far, the Canaries are yet to bounce back in such a fashion to win a game. Quite the opposite on most occasions we’ve conceded the first goal of a game. It’s generally been the signal for a disappointing performance and inevitable defeat.

If Vardy and Co, roared on by 30,000 almost crazed fans, get their noses in front it’s going to be a Mount Everest of a challenge to salvage pride and points. Not impossible, but highly unlikely.

Many of the faithful are still in a state of shock at the abject display at Aston Villa, especially after they were then hammered by Klopp’s lot. How could we have lost to that shambles was the cry?

Villa have had many shockers this season, although it was worth bearing in mind that before we played them, they had beaten Crystal Palace and drew with Leicester at home.

Whichever way you slice it, Villa Park was the latest in a string of soul-sapping away defeats riddled with individual errors and a perceived lack of character, only briefly intervened by that famous triumph at Old Trafford.

As fans, we can only hope that the latest trip out of Norfolk to the sun-drenched sands of Abu Dhabi has topped up the boys’ tans, recharged their batteries and cemented a solid team spirit necessary for the rest of the season.

Let’s hope they are in fighting mood.

Personally, I don’t subscribe to that Richard III theory.

However, if anyone could find the long missing bones of our own Queen Boudicca – thought to be, of all places, somewhere under a McDonalds in Birmingham – within the next month and hurriedly rebury them at Norwich Cathedral, that would be great.