Newcastle United boss John Carver has conceded that his players might not be listening to him as the club fell to their eighth defeat on the spin.
The Magpies fell to a 3-0 loss at the hands of Leicester City to drop dangerously close to the relegation zone, with Carver's men now just two points clear of the bottom three.
Carver has admitted that he is worried that his players may have stopped listening to his instructions due to their poor run of form under his tenure.
He told reporters: "If I'm honest, I have to admit there's a chance they're just not listening to me. That might be one factor of many, and you have to consider it.
"You have to consider it and take it into account, but it might be a lot of other things. We might not be good enough. We might not have enough desire to want to defend in the box or score at the other end.
"There are lot of factors, but I won't deny that [the players not listening] could be one of them."
Carver accused Mike Williamson of being sent off on purpose in their defeat at the King Power Stadium, which the defender has refuted.
Simon Sinclair
