Claudio Ranieri: 'Leicester City didn't play as a team'

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has said that his side did not play as a team during their 2-1 defeat to Hull City this afternoon.

The Foxes lost just three games on their way to the Premier League title last term, but were stunned by the newly-promoted Tigers at the KCOM Stadium in the opening match of the 2016-17 campaign.

Ranieri suggested that a draw would have been a fairer result, but admitted that his side need to improve if they are to repeat last season's achievements.

"They played better. We tried to do our best. Our effort was amazing but it was individual, not as a team," he told Sky Sports News.

"We tried to win but sometimes it's impossible. We made some mistakes and we have to think where we made them. I told my players this season will be harder than last season.

"Today was a normal match, maybe a draw was normal but we lost it. For this reason I told them we must be very strong together because last season we showed ourselves as a very good team and we need to repeat that."

Leicester's defeat means that they are the first champions in Premier League history to lose the opening match of their title defence.