Leicester City have become used to that losing feeling after being beaten 2-1 by Aston Villa on Saturday.
Ross Barkley gave Villa the lead before Stephy Mavididi’s equaliser six minutes later looked to have sparked some life into the Foxes.
Once again though, individual mistakes cost Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men as James Justin’s careless defending saw Ian Maatsen take the ball off him and lay the ball across to Leon Bailey to tap home.
That means it’s now five defeats in a row for Leicester as they remain in the bottom three, holding onto the hope that rivals around them also drop points.
There was plenty to take away from the loss at Villa Park so, with that, here are three things Leicester City News learned from the latest setback.
James Justin is becoming a liability for Leicester City
It’s almost like groundhog day when we talk about Leicester’s issues, but it is the same every week.
Up until his mistake, James Justin was having one of his better games in a Foxes shirt this season but ultimately, he will be remembered for the error that led to Villa’s winner.
Justin had the ball on the edge of the box and instead of sending it long and allowing the Foxes to press higher up the pitch the right-back instead chose to hesitate on the ball before cheaply giving it away.
The error from Justin sparked fury from Leicester fans on social media in what is becoming a running theme.
Van Nistelrooy may have a lack of options in that area of the pitch due to Ricardo Pereira’s injury, but it is obvious that either Hamza Choudhury should be given the nod, or, a new face needs to be brought in.
Max Aarons has been linked with Leicester and he would be most welcome right now.
Luke Thomas is fighting for his Leicester future
Luke Thomas is one of the players who could leave Leicester in January and after his display against Brentford, there’d have been no surprises had he never played for the club again.
But, after Victor Kristiansen was ruled out through illness, Thomas was given his first start since that game on 30 November and stunned everyone.
Thomas won many of his duels, looked composed on the ball and offered a lot for Stephy Mavididi on the left-hand side.
Even if this is a game that puts himself in the shop window, he can be proud of his performance and shown Van Nistelrooy that he still has a part to play.
- READ MORE: There’s now no chance Leicester City gem will leave in January but another player will depart
Leicester must have a new signing in by next game
We’re now well and truly into the transfer window and after another defeat, Leicester should really step up the recruitment.
Centre-backs are Leicester’s priority but additionally, full-backs and a striker/winger must be targeted.
As time goes on, deals become harder to do and Leicester cannot afford to slack in the market.
Players must be brought in to breathe some new life into the team and get the turn around needed to avoid relegation from the Premier League.