Nigel Pearson reserved special praise for David Nugent after he earned Leicester an FA Cup quarter-final place at the expense of Norwich.

Nugent slotted the 70th-minute winner which earned Leicester a 2-1 win over Norwich at Carrow Road on Saturday.

"Nugent is so confident. He plays with a smile on his face," Pearson sad.

"He is a very positive influence and his work-rate is exceptional. He is a very popular player in the team and today he showed the quality he has got.

"We played with a lot of discipline and desire and didn't make a lot of mistakes."

Nugent, who won one England cap in 2007, played for Portsmouth when they beat Cardiff in the FA Cup final in 2008 and Pearson, whose side are mid-table in the Championship, admits there will be some players and fans dreaming of Wembley again.

"This is still a very prestigious competition," said Pearson. "When you get to the latter stages you start dreaming you can be successful."

Pearson saw his side take the lead through Sean St Ledger's header before Norwich captain Wes Hoolahan equalised, stabbing home the rebound after his spot-kick had been saved by Kasper Schmeichel, who was unlucky to have been adjudged to have brought down Elliott Bennett in the box.

"I was very pleased to go in front and then to deal with the disappointment of a penalty which we feel was a bit harsh," Pearson said.

"We created chances and when we had to defend we did so with a lot of spirit.

"Jermaine Beckford caused them all sorts of problems and today we were better than them. We played some good football. We wanted to play positive football."

Norwich manager Paul Lambert admitted he had no complaints with the result.

"We didn't do enough. Leicester deserved to go through and good luck to them. We never performed," he said.

Lambert, whose side lie eighth in the Premier League and have all but guaranteed survival this season, refused to blame the defeat on a weakened side, having made four changes from the team which beat Swansea away last weekend.

But he insisted the Premier League had been top of his priorities.

"It (the cup defeat) will be a blessing in disguise if we stay in the league," he said.

"No-one would pat us on the back if we got to the quarter-finals of the cup and got relegated.

"I don't think the FA Cup is a discredited competition. But I wouldn't have wanted to do well in the FA Cup and get relegated at the end of the season.

"I picked a team I thought would win and that's my fault."