Leicester surged seven points clear at the top of the Championship after routing promotion rivals Derby 4-1 on Friday.

Nigel Pearson's team were in dominant form at the King Power Stadium as they underlined their promotion credentials and in the process dealt a blow to one of their main challengers for a place in the Premier League.

Richie De Laet's first goal in just over a year gave Leicester the lead in the 25th minute and their advantage could have been even greater before half-time as Jamie Vardy and Liam Moore saw efforts strike the woodwork.

Former England striker David Nugent made it 2-0 three minutes after the interval before De Laet's own goal in the 59th minute briefly gave Derby hope of snatching a point.

Nugent scored his second from the penalty spot on the hour and a deserved goal for Vardy four minutes later killed off Steve McClaren's fourth placed team.

The Rams, now 10 points behind Leicester, were emphatically out-played as they slipped to a second successive league loss and an eighth defeat in their last nine matches against the Foxes - including a third to Pearson's team this season.

Second placed Burnley and third placed QPR will try to reduce Leicester's advantage at the top when they play Yeovil and Ipswich respectively on Saturday.