Claude Puel has admitted that Riyad Mahrez was "disappointed" to be taken off during Leicester City's 1-1 draw with West Ham United on Friday night.
The 26-year-old left the field in a sulky manner after being replaced by Ben Chilwell 20 minutes from time at the London Stadium, having struggled to make an impact on the game.
Puel says that Mahrez's reaction to being subbed was to be expected, and insists that Leicester - now 11th in the table after 13 games - can take plenty of positives back to the East Midlands.
"When a player leaves the game they are disappointed - it's not too important," he told Sky Sports News. "It was hard to find Mahrez in the second half.
"We tried to play on the counter attacking with Demarai Gray and Jamie Vardy against this team as they were playing with long kicks and winning the second balls. But it was not possible to find them in the second half.
"We had to kill the game in the first half. With the goal before half time West Ham took confidence. They were aggressive as was the atmosphere inside the stadium. It was important then to keep this result.
"We couldn't find Mahrez or Vardy in space and that was a disappointment. It was difficult in the second half. But our first half delighted me for the future. We put together good moves but we couldn't find a second goal."
Leicester are now unbeaten in five Premier League away games - their best run since the final five games of their famous 2015-16 title-winning campaign.
Daniel Lewis
