It is the 73rd minute of Leicester’s home game against Tottenham last Saturday and when Jonny Evans produces a brilliantly timed, critical challenge on Harry Kane, the energy around the King Power Stadium is palpable.

Kane is sent sprawling to the turf on the half-way line and Leicester are galvanised, going on to secure their best result under Brendan Rodgers and underlining their credentials as serious top-six contenders.

“It’s the first time in my career I’ve ever had a reaction to a tackle before. The crowd erupted and it felt like they were celebrating a goal,” says Evans, smiling as he reflects on the moment at Leicester’s training ground this week.

“It was at a stage of the game where it gave everyone a lift. Sir Alex Ferguson used to say a good challenge and being aggressive just lifts the crowd and changes the momentum. It had a good effect on us as a team and we went on to win the game. You see, tackling is under-rated!”

Leicester’s 2-1 victory over Spurs, thanks to a winning goal from James Maddison, has only raised expectations this season and Evans will be a key figure in the Rodgers revolution.

Despite turning 32 in January, Evans is still studious about making improvements to his game credit: John Robertson

The 31-year-old is unquestionably one of the finest operators in his position at Premier League level: a Rolls Royce centre-half, and it is easy to see why he was pursued by Pep Guardiola two seasons ago.

A three-times title winner with Manchester United, Evans has been branded “the absolute steal of the century” by Rodgers after costing Leicester just £3.5 million from West Brom in June 2018.

Evans is proving even more crucial this season after the £85 million sale of Harry Maguire to United, establishing a strong pairing at the heart of the back-four with Çağlar Söyüncü, the popular Turkish defender.

Söyüncü is flourishing alongside his vastly experienced partner, and Evans tells a wonderful story from last weekend which perfectly captures the spirit and unity flowing in the Leicester dressing room.

“Before the Tottenham game I was playing a game of pool against him in the pre-match room. I set the balls up and said ‘go on ‘Cags’, you can break’. He told me to stand out the way, which I thought was a bit odd.

“He’s then smashed the white ball and it’s flown off the table, missing Ricardo Pereira’s head by just inches. The ball put a massive hole in the wall. Everyone was rolling around on the floor laughing because we all know the power he’s got.

“He’s got this freak strength that he likes to use every now and again. It’s great that the fans have taken to him. For him to get that much adulation early on is fantastic. He’s already a big cult hero, he’s come in and probably exceeded what everyone expected of him.”

Evans, and Söyüncü, will face Newcastle at home on Sunday with the opportunity for Leicester to regain third place, and the mood has been buoyant since Rodgers was appointed in February.

He originally came through the ranks at Manchester United, winning three league titles credit: EPA

There is a genuine chance for Leicester to break into the top-six and Evans freely admits that a return to European football is a huge driving force. Those stirring nights in the Champions League, when Leicester reached the quarter-finals two years ago, are impossible to forget.

“Everyone is talking about us since Brendan came in and changed the style of football. There’s a belief that we can compete and achieve the target of getting into Europe, which is probably what the club is crying out for,” he says.

“We want European football and that is the next stage. If you can guarantee that over a couple of seasons, it puts the club on a different level in terms of attracting players.

“European nights are amazing, especially the Champions League. Leicester have experienced it more recently than I have and the players here still talk about those games against Atletico Madrid and Sevilla.

“There’s a real hunger in the dressing room to get that back and to experience it again. As an older player, you crave those experiences a bit more. It’s a big agenda to bring it all back.”

It was during his time as captain of West Brom that Evans 'made mistakes' while on a team night out in Barcelona credit: PA

Evans has not played in the Champions League since December 2013, at United, and his departure from Old Trafford continues to polarise opinion among supporters.

Ferguson has admitted he was stunned that Louis van Gaal decided to sell the Northern Ireland international, but Evans has no regrets. West Brom paid just £4 million - with two further instalments of £1 million on top-flight survival - and Evans was imperious for much of his three seasons at the Hawthorns, particularly under Tony Pulis.

He still reflects poignantly on his final season there, which ended in relegation and was smeared in controversy. Disastrous team bonding sessions are back in the spotlight again this week with Derby, and Evans was cast as a villain in February 2018 when he became embroiled in a prank gone wrong in Barcelona.

Evans, Gareth Barry, Jake Livermore and Boaz Myhill were all fined after a taxi was stolen outside a restaurant, as head coach Alan Pardew’s grip on the dressing room slipped further.

Speaking in detail about the incident for the first time, Evans chooses his words carefully. “You make mistakes and I’m not going to deny that we went out and broke a curfew. It’s something that all the lads regret and at the time we probably didn’t see it as a big issue,” he said.

“But it became a massive thing and we put ourselves in a position where we were left open for criticism. There were things happening behind the scenes at the club and the results weren’t great so everything got magnified.

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“Were we hung out to dry? In a way, maybe. At the time, as players we didn’t feel we were getting any support from the club. I felt that we were almost being used as scapegoats for the way the season was unfolding. But that’s fine, we know how things can be perceived and how clubs can use things to their advantage.”

Evans has recovered from that experience and his 15 months at Leicester have been hugely enjoyable, under first Claude Puel and now Rodgers. A deep thinker fascinated in the intricacies of training and match preparation, he will be 32 in January and is now arguably at the peak of his powers.

“I still think I can get better,” he says. “At United I made my mistakes at the biggest club in the world. That makes you stronger and more able to deal with things. When I left, I knew I could improve.

“I was still working things out and learning on the job at West Brom. When I came to Leicester there was a chance for me to really push on even more, but I still think I’m improving.

“Even a couple of days ago in the Luton [Carabao Cup] game I was annoyed about little things, like a time when I shouldn’t have run with the ball and should have passed it. I’ve got plenty of years left and this is a very exciting time for the club.”