Kiernan Desbury-Hall is making a name for himself

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall made his first Premier League start less than five months ago but he is already Leicester City’s player of the season and if he maintains this form then England recognition will not be far away.

With his jet-black boots, no-frills haircut and unfussy demeanour, Dewsbury-Hall is the antithesis of many of today’s stars —but he has little reason to envy them once he gets on to the pitch.

Playing on the left of a three-man midfield, he tries to win back the ball as though it is a precious family heirloom. And when he has it, he has eye-catching quality.

The ball for Ademola Lookman’s opener against Crystal Palace, played with fabulous disguise inside Nathaniel Clyne, might have come from the boot of Zinedine Zidane. And the great Frenchman would also have been proud of Dewsbury-Hall’s perfectly struck effort that picked out the top corner from 20 yards for his first Premier League goal.

That put Leicester two up at the break against the FA Cup semi-finalists and though Wilfried Zaha scored with 25 minutes left — after Kasper Schmeichel had saved his retaken penalty, as well as the original spot-kick — the Foxes held on to climb over Palace into ninth.

‘Since he has come in to the side Kiernan has represented everything I want in my teams,’ said Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers. ‘He is honest and works hard, and then he has quality.

‘As a No8, his job is to create and score. He makes a lovely pass for the first goal and the second goal was first-class. There is no question he has become a very important player for us. He was outstanding here.’

Despite Sunday’s Wembley date with Chelsea, boss Patrick Vieira named the same starting XI that helped beat Arsenal 3-0. With one eye on Thursday’s Europa Conference