Leicester’s loss to Palace a major blow, says manager Van Nistelrooy

A sixth successive league defeat for Leicester City was a major blow to the club, said manager Ruud van Nistelrooy after a 2-0 home loss to Crystal Palace on Wednesday kept them floundering near the foot of the Premier League.

Second-half goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta and Marc Guehi handed Palace a 2-0 win as they shrugged off Leicester taking the early initiative and coasted to a comfortable victory.

The home side squandered chances to be ahead at the break before being thoroughly outplayed after halftime.

“It’s hard. We kept spirits up after five losses and we will also do it after today’s loss,” said Van Nistelrooy.

“There’s hope there, there’s spirit there in the team. But today is a big blow. I think it’s the lowest we’ve felt so far in my spell.”

Van Nistelrooy came in to replace Steve Cooper, who was sacked in November, but has lost six of nine matches in charge in all competitions, with two wins and a draw.

“It’s a worry when you concede the amount of goals we do at the moment, it’s hard to win games,” he added.

“It’s something we addressed. I addressed it from the first day I came in but we haven’t got that right.”

Van Nistelrooy bemoaned a lack of consistency.

“In spells we’re doing it very well. There’s a split second where we allow an opponent to dribble through the middle and give the assist for the first goal, then we’re not sharp enough on a set-piece.

”You put a lot of effort in and you start the game with great expectations and hope and belief and spirit. But again we came short and that’s a big blow,” he added.

Leicester are second bottom in the standings, with 14 points from 21 games.