Jamie Vardy is a “handful” — and not just for the Premier League defenders he continues to terrorise.



The Leicester City striker can also present a challenge for his coaches at Belvoir Drive with his endless energy and mischief, as former team-mate and coach Kevin Phillips can testify.



One of Vardy’s favourite pre-training rituals, when Phillips was a first-team coach under manager Nigel Pearson, was to smash the carefully gathered balls all over the training ground.



“We got fed up of trying to tell him, ‘Jamie, leave the balls alone’,” Phillips, 46, recalls. “In the end, I think we never even put the balls out. We used to leave them in the bag but then that wouldn’t stop him because he would come over and get one out, take a touch, and then volley it miles away. But you get used to it!



“That is just the way he is. I guarantee he will be no different now. You kind of turn a blind eye...