LEICESTER City manager Nigel Pearson has revealed how close he was to taking up the top job at Ipswich Town.

Speaking after his Foxes side won 2-1 at Portman Road, Pearson claimed he was pipped to the post by Jim Magilton when he applied for the Blues job in 2006.

Pearson said: “I was disappointed at the time, but Jim Magilton was a local hero here so there you go. It’s a lovely club and a lovely part of the world. My wife’s got some family down here and I always enjoy coming here.”

Pearson was left delighted by his side’s win but admitted the four changes made by his counterpart Paul Jewell made a difference in the first half.

He added: “We kept an unchanged side form Saturday, Ipswich made four changes and I just felt we didn’t really look to have the energy levels we needed.

“It was a case of making a couple of changes to inject some fresh legs into the team. It was a good second half for us. I never felt we were in any danger and we could have won it more convincingly.

“The goalkeeper (Arran Lee-Barrett) did very well to save from Beckford when he tried to dink it over him and he made a save from his own player which he didn’t know a great deal about.”