BRENDAN Rodgers breathed a sigh of relief and piled the pressure on Steve Cooper as Leicester ended their winless start to the season at the eighth attempt with a fine 4-0 victory over Nottingham Forest last night.

In a meeting of two under-pressure managers and their struggling teams, Rodgers celebrated at full-time after Leicester hit three in 10 first-half minutes – two from the outstanding James Maddison either side of Harvey Barnes’s curling strike.

Maddison then turned provider in the second half, teeing up substitute Patson Daka for the final blow.

It was enough to lift Leicester off the foot of the table at the expense of their east Midlands rivals, a much-needed success for Rodgers as Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha jetted in to watch his first match in person in six weeks.

The outlook for Cooper is far less certain after a fifth straight league defeat – Forest’s worst run since January 2004.

It is a year since Cooper took the job, lifting Forest from the Championship relegation zone to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years.

Leicester will look to follow up on this success when heading to Vitality Stadium on Saturday to face Cherries (3pm), who are unbeaten in four under interim boss Gary O'Neil.