Leicester City left to wonder what they will do if the Jamie Vardy magic is gone

Jamie Vardy's been having a party this season, as the song goes. Defences up and down the land have been befuddled and bullied by his relentless running and merciless finishing, his ferocious style having proven too much for even defenders in England, used to such pace and intensity.

If Vardy's season finished now, it would still be an excellent one. He has 15 goals from 19 games, has played for England twice and of course broke Ruud van Nistelrooy's record for goals in consecutive Premier League games. When the Guardian reported on Tuesday that Manchester City had "categorically ruled out signing Jamie Vardy or Neymar in next month’s transfer window", it no longer seemed entirely absurd to see him mentioned in the same breath as the brilliant Brazilian. The only blip – and it is quite a blip – was being forced to apologise for racially abusing a man in a late night casino, a regrettable lapse that has rather been forgotten in the season's otherwise feel-good story.

Vardy has been, along with Riyad Mahrez, the driving force behind a team that at the start of the season was tipped for relegation being top of the table at Christmas. They could perhaps have regarded as disappointing, on Tuesday night, the 0-0 draw against a Manchester City side who have slipped on a number of occasions this season. Despite what constitutes a bad run for Claudio Ranieri's team - which is to say one point from two games against Liverpool and City - they remain level on points with Arsenal and only kept off top spot due to goal difference.

And yet, there were a couple of signs in the draw with City that Vardy's improbable run could be coming to an end. For a start, this was his third game in a row without a goal: not a calamitous run by any stretch of the imagination, but it's the first time he has gone that number of games without finding the net this season.

Vardy passed up a couple of extremely presentable chances against City, most notably in the first half after being fed by Marc Albrighton, when he snatched at a shot and blazed the ball over, with only Joe Hart to beat. It wasn't quite a given that he or anyone would score it, but it was certainly the sort of chance that he would have snaffled without any problem during his 11-game scoring streak earlier in the campaign. These things happen, though. Strikers miss chances, and even three games in a row without finding the net should not perhaps cause undue alarm.

But perhaps more worrying was that Vardy looked weary, a little leggy and not his usual self. This is understandable, for any number of reasons, not least that he was playing his second game in four days (the first of which he was taken off because he had a fever), and it was his 23rd appearance of the season, for club and country. Add to this his playing style, charging around the pitch like a cartoon character desperately trying to dispose of a bomb, and it's hardly surprising that he might look a little tired.

The problem comes when you consider that he's unlikely to get much rest anytime soon. Ranieri said after the game about Vardy and Riyad Mahrez that “if they need a rest, I give them a rest. Until then, they play”, but Leicester's success, style of play and frankly lack of other viable attacking options makes resting either man more of a risk than it is any many other clubs.

It is worth thinking about what this Leicester side would look like without Vardy, or at least the Vardy that we've seen so far this term. The flip side of the remarkable story of his rise from Fleetwood Town to Premier League record-holder is that not so long ago he was a League Two footballer. So which is the real Vardy? The one of 2015, or the one of 2012? He is clearly a late bloomer, but the possibility that the last year or so has just been one colossal purple patch – the purplest of patches, admittedly – cannot be ignored.

Leicester are not a two-man team, and their primary attacking threats would not be quite so threatening without the support of Wes Morgan, Danny Drinkwater, N'Golo Kante et al, but they rely on Vardy and Mahrez for goals and attacking incision. If Vardy was to tire, or get injured, or simply revert to the player he was before this astonishing run, then Leicester would be in some trouble.

We have seen a glimpse of that in the last few games, no more so than against Manchester City. Ranieri will just hope that it is only a glimpse.