Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson believes striker Jamie Vardy is coping very well with life in the Championship.
Vardy had not found the net in his previous nine games but went off the bench to score City's 90th-minute equaliser against Barnsley on Saturday.
The 25-year-old striker had caught the eye of a number of clubs in the summer after he notched up 34 goals in 40 appearances for Conference champions Fleetwood Town.
But since making the leap to the Championship, he has struggled to rekindle his scoring form of last year.
Pearson has said he has the utmost faith in his strikers.
"There is a big gap (from the Conference) to the Championship but he is coping very well with it," said the City boss.
"He is a player like all our strikers, David Nugent and Martyn Waghorn, who have had a spell where goals haven't come," said Pearson.
"All three of them have worked exceptionally hard through those periods. I am pleased that Jamie has scored. He has had a bit of a spell where he hasn't scored, so it is great for him and us that he has got the equaliser."
Vardy's signing over the summer raised eyebrows when he became the first £1million non-league player.
Pearson said he does not see that as a gamble. "I wouldn't have thought he was a gamble when there were four clubs trying to buy him," he said.
"This club has spent a lot of money on players in the past.
"When I hear people say 'big-name players' I think 'no, it's big fees, that's what it is'." Another new striker who made an immediate impact in the Barnsley box was Hungarian target man Marko Futacs.
His height and strength proved a constant nuisance for the visitors and could well have won City a penalty in the dying minutes as the Barnsley defence tried to wrestle him in the penalty area.
"He gives us a different option," said Pearson.
"Towards the end, because they packed so many behind the ball, we went a bit more direct and aerial than normal.
"But even then we were quite effective. On another day, we might have sneaked the win."
