Ranieri, Kane pick up monthly Premier League awards

Football Soccer - Barclays Premier League Manager of the Month - Leicester City Training Ground - 6/4/16 Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri poses with the Barclays manager of the month award for March Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Paul Childs Livepic

REUTERS - Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has been named the Premier League manager of the month for March, while Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has won the players' award.

Ranieri guided his team to three wins and a draw during the month to consolidate their position at the top of the table, where they currently sit seven points clear of Tottenham with six games to play.

This is the second time this season that Ranieri, who has also been named Italian coach of the year on the back of Leicester's remarkable season, has won the award.

He saw off competition from West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic, Swansea City boss Francesco Guidolin and Bournemouth's Eddie Howe.

The Foxes began the month with a 2-2 home draw with West Bromwich Albion, followed by three 1-0 wins against Watford, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace.

Kane netted six times in the league in March to climb to the top of the scoring charts on 22 goals, three ahead of his closest rival, Leicester City's Jamie Vardy.

(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; Editing by John O'Brien)