Southampton midfielders Pele and David Prutton made a splash at rain-soaked St Mary's with the goals which sank Coca-Cola Championship rivals Leicester.

Portuguese playmaker Pele broke his duck in English football with a superb header which his illustrious Brazilian namesake would have been proud of.

Substitute Prutton found the net on only his second appearance of the season following the best part of a year on the injured list as Saints made light of the tricky conditions.

A deserved victory leaves George Burley's men handily placed for a promotion bid in fourth spot going into the new year.

They were almost denied the chance of three easy points, however, when a heavy downpour an hour before kick-off forced referee Phil Crossley to delay the proceedings pending a pitch inspection.

But the rain stopped and the groundstaff drained the playing surface before the teams eventually got under way at 3.45pm.

Pele, a summer capture from Portuguese side Belenenses, took just nine minutes to put Saints ahead, leaping out of the puddles to meet right-back Alexander Ostlund's inviting cross with a firm header past City goalkeeper Paul Henderson.

Leicester looked a shadow of the team which had taken 10 points from their last four games and were on the back foot throughout.

Teenage left-back Gareth Bale, who Saints will do well to hold onto in January, fired a long-range shot wide and put a free-kick into the wall while Henderson was forced to tip a curling Nathan Dyer cross over the top from under his crossbar.

Saints suffered a blow, however, when Dyer hobbled off following a crunching tackle from Danny Tiatto to be replaced by Prutton shortly before the break.

The hosts started the second half like a train and Rudi Skacel fired over before top-scorer Grzegorz Rasiak sent a clever curling shot inches wide.

They were rewarded for their positive play in the 53rd minute when Bradley Wright-Philips bamboozled Alan Maybury and Patrick Kisnorbo in the left-hand corner before crossing to the far post.

Prutton's powerful header was kept out by Henderson, but the ball cannoned back off the midfielder's shins and into the net for his first league goal since January 2005, against Liverpool in the Premiership.

The 25-year-old, who has been linked with a move away from St Mary's, set off on a wild celebration behind the goal as he put a year's misery behind him following an ankle injury which he ironically sustained against the Foxes in January.

Rasiak headed over and Wright-Phillips, Bale and sub David McGoldrick forced fine saves from Henderson as Saints went for the jugular, while for Leicester a couple of wayward efforts from Gareth Williams and Matty Fryatt summed up a thoroughly miserable afternoon.

Teams:

Southampton Davis, Ostlund, Baird, Lundekvam, Bale,Dyer (Prutton 39), Wright, Pele, Skacel (Viafara 85),Wright-Phillips, Rasiak (McGoldrick 90).

Subs Not Used: Bialkowski, Licka.

Goals: Pele 9, Prutton 53.

Leicester Henderson, Maybury, McAuley, Kisnorbo,Johansson (Stearman 61), Hughes, Williams, Tiatto (Fryatt 56),Porter, Hume (McCarthy 75), Hammond.

Subs Not Used: Logan, Wesolowski.

Booked: Stearman.

Att: 24,447

Ref: P Crossley (Kent).