The Foxes claimed the League One title back in April and will begin their new campaign with the visit of Swansea and Walsh, who made more than 350 appearances for the club, believes Nigel Pearson's men can hold their own in England's second tier.

"Winning that first game, particularly at home, is so important and it gives everyone that extra buzz," he told the Leicester Mercury. "It happened last season when we beat MK Dons in our first match in League One and we took it on from there.

"We're looking too at a very tough division and a very tough start but the team we have now would not have gone down and, with more additions, we'll be all right."

Meanwhile, chief executive Lee Hoos believes his side are more than capable of pulling off some shock results next season.

He added: "We won the league comfortably last season and we have a good management team in place and a lot going for us. We are now much stronger and organised as a squad and there is a lot to look forward to and I think we'll surprise a lot of people."