Kelechi Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy scored to help Leicester City stay top of the Championship with a hard-fought win against Stoke City.

Nathan Lowe had the best of Stoke’s few chances to level, while Mark Travers made it tense for the Foxes by denying Yunus Akgun and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall before Vardy came off the bench to add a second with a tap-in finish.

The former England striker’s 175th goal for Leicester completed the win, but it could have been a more comprehensive result as the hosts created late chances in a strong finish.

Victory saw the Foxes became the equal-fastest team to amass 30 points in a Championship season, matching Sheffield United in 2005-06, with their 10th win in 11 games.

A point at Swansea after the international break would be enough for Leicester to break the record for the best start to a second-tier season after 12 games since it was rebranded as the Championship 19 years ago.

Stoke’s sixth defeat in eight games – a run that includes just one win – saw them slip to 21st in the table.

The Foxes dominated early possession but found chances hard to come by before Ricardo Pereira teed up Iheanacho for his fifth goal of the season.

As has become the norm this season, Enzo Maresca’s Leicester dictated play, having 76% of possession in the first half.

Stoke had to wait until the first minute of the second half to threaten, with Lowe sending his header wastefully over the bar.

The teenager also had an effort deflected into the side-netting after a good save from Travers prevented Akgun from adding a second for Leicester.

Abdul Fatawu sent an effort wide before Travers was tested by Dewsbury-Hall, and while the Stoke keeper also went on to foil Wilfred Ndidi – who also sent a late chance off target – the game had already been put beyond the Potters’ reach by the prolific Vardy.

Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca told BBC Radio Leicester:

“It was a difficult game. As we expected, they sit there and you need to be patient.

“We scored early and they maintained the same plan. Then after an hour they changed their plan and became more aggressive. That was the moment we found more space and more solutions.”

On being top of the table, with a 10 point gap to third place: “It’s important to be be ahead rather than behind. But we are still in October and the season is still very, very long.”

Stoke City boss Alex Neil told BBC Radio Stoke:

“Our game plan was to come here, frustrate and try keep Leicester at arms length really.

“We wanted to get to the late embers of the game and see if we could have a little bit of a go.

“The first goal changed the dynamic of the game. We then kept it going until the 60th minute, then when we decided to have a go.

“We discussed that, it was always going to be the game plan.

“You can see why teams come here and don’t do that, because they have very quick players, they are good, they are technical, they move the ball. You have to go one-for-one across the whole pitch and at that stage we became a little stretched and they managed to get a goal.

“We gave it everything we have got.”