Vardy: Liking for Skittles vodka hindered recovery from 'dead leg'

Jamie Vardy's penchant for vodka flavoured with Skittles was the reason why he struggled to recover from a "fairly routine" injury in his early days with Leicester City, the 29-year-old reveals in his upcoming autobiography.

At the beginning of the 2012-13 season - Vardy's first with Leicester in the Championship following a £1-million move from Fleetwood Town - the England forward had been stuck in a goal-scoring drought. He then sustained a knock on his calf, which never seemed to heal.

Vardy writes in an extract from his book that he would "sit back and enjoy" a glass of Skittles vodka when he was bored at home. Only until he revealed his drink of choice to club physio Dave Rennie did he understand why he couldn't overcome a "dead leg."

He continues:

I had a three-litre vodka ­bottle at home I would put loads of Skittles sweets in.

Once one batch had fully dissolved, I’d top it up with more - only the red or purple sweets because I don’t fancy the orange, green, and yellow ones. I must have put a different batch in at least 20 times.

After that, you can drink the vodka neat and it tastes just like Skittles. When I was bored at home in the evening I’d pour myself a glass, sit back, and enjoy. The vodka was decent but it wasn’t doing much for my dead leg, which didn’t stop bleeding for ages.

Dave Rennie, the physio, said he couldn’t believe it wasn’t improving. He’d seen a torn calf muscle heal quicker.

Vardy's first campaign with the Foxes made him think twice about his career, the loss of form so damaging to his confidence that he didn't believe he could cut it in the second tier of English football.

"My way of dealing with that was to go and get p---ed with my mates in Sheffield," he writes.

The training was also far more intense than anything he had been used to. Having previously played non-league football on a meagre wage, Vardy could no longer afford late nights.

"My sleep pattern was screwed up. I'd invited friends to the apartment and sometimes we wouldn't go to bed until 4 a.m.," Vardy recounts. "When I got home from training, I was knackered. If I put a film on I'd be asleep before the opening scene ended."

But he successfully negotiated these obstacles to become Leicester's protagonist last season, scoring 24 goals as the East Midlands club achieved a first top-flight title.