The four Leicester City players walking a suspension tightrope ahead of Wolves 

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The reality of the task at hand for Ruud van Nistelrooy at Leicester City was perhaps addressed on Saturday.

Leicester City were thrashed 4-0 by Newcastle United at St James’ Park following a victory over West Ham and a draw against Brighton.

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men were off the pace for most of the game, with Leicester fans concerned by the inclusion of Kasey McAteer over Facundo Buonanotte.

Defensively, the Foxes were carved open at will by a relentless Newcastle and it highlighted Leicester’s need for defensive reinforcements in January.

It wasn’t the only issue to emerge from their thrashing in the North East, as several first-team stars are now one yellow card away from a suspension.

The four Leicester City players walking suspension tightrope ahead of Wolves

Leicester face a huge relegation six-pointer against Wolves on Sunday as van Nistelrooy aims to put clear daylight between them and the bottom three.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
16	EvertonEverton	15	3	6	6	14	21	-7	15
17	LeicesterLeicester	16	3	5	8	21	34	-13	14
18	IpswichIpswich	16	2	6	8	16	28	-12	12

There will be a change in the dugout for the visitors, though, after Wolves sacked Gary O’Neil while Al Shabab manager Vitor Pereira is expected to be the new man in charge.

• READ MORE: Ruud van Nistelrooy receives huge boost as Leicester City star spotted in training

Ahead of the game, four of van Nistelrooy’s players will have to be careful, with Oliver Skipp, Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi and Jordan Ayew all one yellow card away from a one-match suspension.

Skipp was the latest player to join the suspension tightrope after the Englishman picked up his fourth yellow card of the season against Newcastle despite playing just 635 minutes of top-flight action this term.

Premier League yellow card rule explained

Luckily, there is a chance that the above quartet will avoid a suspension for a while as long as they survive the next few games without being shown a card.

As the Premier League rules state, anyone who picks up five yellow cards will pick up a one-match suspension however, this resets after the 19th league match of the season.

Therefore, Skipp, Ndidi, Ayew and Vardy will have to avoid being shown a card across the next three games for the rule to change.

Then, if a player accumulates 10 yellow cards before the 33rd gameweek of the season, they will be hit with an automatic two-match suspension.

In the meantime, van Nistelrooy will be hoping to keep his players disciplined as they enter a gruelling period over Christmas with a trip to Liverpool on Boxing Day before hosting Manchester City three days later.