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Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy insists he has to “accept” the negative fan chants aimed his way following their 2-0 defeat to Fulham.
Chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” echoed around the King Power Stadium following the withdrawal of Bilal El Khannouss as the home support turned hostile again.
The visitors failed to make their mark in the first-half but they turned on the style after the break as Emile Smith Rowe finished a nice move from close range.
Anger started to grow among Leicester fans and Adama Traore fired in his second goal of the season to condemn the home side to a seventh successive Premier League defeat.
Van Nistelrooy insists he does not have to explain his reasons for his substitutions.
He said: “You have to accept it and I am. I’m making substitutions to impact the game.
“It can be in different areas, physical, profile of a player, the opposition. When it’s not received well for once now then I’ll take that one.
“Because the crowd boo one substitution of me it doesn’t mean I have to explain all the reasons behind the substitution. It’s not for the public to know.
“It’s respect to the players who come on. They are valuable members of the squad and deserve minutes to help this team as well. It’s not about one person in this team and in this squad. That for me is very clear.”
After a goalless first half Leicester conceded early in the second half for the second time in a week – Crystal Palace did similar with Jean-Philippe Mateta’s opener in midweek.
The Leicester boss insists this performance was far worse than Wednesday night’s showing.
He added: “Today was extremely disappointing because it wasn’t good enough in all aspects of the game. I saw more Wednesday than today.
“Of course results hurt and are disappointing, but today there was a lot more because we lacked in too many areas that influence on winning a football match.
“We have to deal with it. We cannot change it. We have to face it. Don’t feel sorry for anybody. We are professionals and we have to deal with it.
“We have to make sure that we perform so the crowd is up and supportive. That’s our task.”
Fulham boss Marco Silva saw his side pick up their first win in four matches but shared his sympathy with Van Nistelrooy following the fan chants.
He said: “We all know what our job means and if you ask me if I have sympathy, of course I have. He doesn’t need it because he is a professional.
“We don’t take decision related with the reactions that we expect or not. He took a decision he wanted and expected to be the best for the team in that moment.
“I think we did grow throughout the game and I think we finished the last 20 minutes of the first half better and we were more ourselves.”
