Ranieri was pushed closer to the exit door following defeat by Southampton

Claudio Ranieri is on the brink of the sack at Fulham.

The Italian has lost the supporters and will hold talks with Craven Cottage chiefs on Thursday.

Ranieri was pushed closer to the exit door following Wednesday night’s defeat by Southampton – and insiders claim it is a case of when, not if, the manager loses his job.

Claudio Ranieri is on the brink of the sack at Fulham having lost the supporters

Fulham are now 10 points off safety after a seventh defeat in their last eight league games

CLAUDIO RANIERI'S RECORD AT FULHAM Matches: 17 Wins: 3 Draws: 3 Defeats: 11 Goals for/against: 16/34 Points: 12 Points per game: 0.71 Advertisement

The Italian will have meeting with vice-chairman Tony Khan on Thursday.

Khan has been at the club's Motspur Park training ground this week, overseeing the current set-up.

Scott Parker is expected to take over from Ranieri on an interim basis.

Ranieri only signed a two-year deal – which included no relegation break clause – back in November.

At the time, chairman Shahid Khan described his appointment as 'risk-free'.

But on Wednesday night fans began to turn on Ranieri, who insisted he wouldn’t resign.

Under-pressure manager Ranieri was subject to protests from the away fans at Southampton

The Fulham boss did, however, admit after defeat at St Mary's that he didn't not know whether his job was under threat as Fulham edged closer to Premier League relegation.

The Cottagers slipped a perilous 10 points adrift of safety, with the under-pressure manager subject to protests from the travelling fans.

First-half goals from Saints duo Oriol Romeu and James Ward-Prowse inflicted the London club's seventh defeat from eight top-flight games

Asked about his future, Ranieri replied: 'My job? I don't know. Ask the owner.'

Chants of 'You don't know what you're doing' greeted Ranieri's second-half substitutions, while a banner containing the words: 'Risk free? Are you watching Tony Khan?'.

Oriol Romeu (centre) and James Ward-Prowse scored the goals to lift Southampton into 17th

Chants of 'You don't know what you're doing' greeted Ranieri's second-half substitutions

Ranieri insisted he will continue to fight for an unlikely great escape with 10 games remaining.

'Something could happen. If you don't believe, it's done,' he said.

'You have to believe. You have to fight. If you don't fight, already you've lost.

'Always in my career, I'm used to work hard. I know it's very difficult but until mathematically it's impossible we continue to fight.'