Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson may be "a little bit odd" but he is on course to keep the club in the Premier League, according to former Foxes striker Gary Lineker.
Pearson has been involved in several controversial incidents this season after bringing Leicester up to the top flight as winners of the Championship last term.
The 51-year-old was fined £10,000 by the FA in December for arguing with a Liverpool supporter during a match and ran the risk of another FA charge for his confrontation with Crystal Palace midfielder James McArthur before last week engaging in a bizarre row with the media sparked by him branding one reporter "an ostrich."
However, on the pitch a run of five wins in six games has lifted the Foxes outside the relegation zone -- and Hull's 3-1 defeat to Arsenal even left them above Steve Bruce's men on goals scored and in 16th place.
Former England captain and Leicester striker Lineker -- who was himself involved in a spat with Pearson earlier this season -- believes he is the man to avoid relegation.
"Nigel has done a brilliant job at Leicester," Lineker told BBC Leicester's Football Forum. "He knows what he's doing -- yes, he's a little bit weird at times, a little bit odd.
"'I've had a little spat with him [about the McArthur incident] and he sometimes gets a little heated and out of order. But I think we'll all put up with that if he keeps them up.
"He's been accused of being slightly arrogant and patronising but he's kept the players together, he's kept them focused and kept the belief. He clearly knows what he's doing in terms of his job and that's all that matters really. He can be a bit quirky. But Jose Mourinho can be difficult at times and he's done all right."
Nigel Pearson's men have crucial games to come against Sunderland and QPR, the teams in 18th and 19th, with the latter looking bound for relegation which could well be confirmed before their meeting with Leicester on the last day of the season.
"If I was a neutral looking at this, I would say 99 percent sure Leicester will stay up," Lineker added. "It's nice to have in the bag that the last game is QPR at home when it's massively odds-on for them to be relegated by that stage. That might be quite handy if things don't go too well in the next two games.
"If Leicester get any sort of result at Sunderland that will pretty much guarantee they stay up, particularly if they get anything this weekend against Southampton.
"I think they will [stay up]. I don't want to tempt fate but given their turnaround in fortunes, and given the fixtures that other sides at the bottom have got and the fixtures Leicester have got, I would now be quite surprised if they don't.
"It's not impossible, of course, and lose the next two games and you are bang under the cosh."