LEICESTER City are hoping to challenge East Midlands rivals Derby County's title as best supported club in the region.

The Rams topped the attendances chart in the Championship last season with an average gate of 29,440.

Leicester averaged 20,233 in League One last season but Foxes chief executive Lee Hoos has called on the fans to boost that figure following the club's promotion back to the Championship.

"I would really love us to emulate Derby," said Hoos. "They have a reputation as the best supported club and that rankles with me.

"They have the same-sized stadium and had 29,000 in the ground every week and I would love to see our average capacity up there.

"It is close to 21,000 now and it is a goal to be better supported than Derby.

"We'd love full houses every week, as we had against Scunthorpe at the end of last season. We want to replicate that great atmosphere in every game."

Derby's arch rivals Nottingham Forest averaged 22,299 at home last season.

The Rams are hoping to push their average attendance back up over 30,000 in 2009-10, and have already sold 22,000 season tickets ahead of the new campaign, which starts with a home game against Peterborough United on August 8.