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Leicester City’s formation was not to blame for their defeat to Southampton, Claude Puel believes.

Despite facing a relegation-battling side at home, City manager Puel opted for a 4-3-3 system with defensive midfielders Hamza Choudhury, Papy Mendy and Wilfred Ndidi sitting in front of the back four.

It was a line-up that served City well in recent wins over Chelsea and Everton, but it did not have the desired effect against the Saints, who led 2-0 at half-time.

The system was ditched for the second half, Puel bringing on attacking players in an attempt to rescue a point.

However, Puel said the performance, not the formation, was a bigger factor in City’s poor first-half showing, with Mendy at fault for both goals.

“We found a good balance in this situation in games we won earlier (in the season),” said Puel.

“Against Cardiff it was another question about why we didn’t keep the three in midfield. Now it is why we started with three in midfield.

“It is always after the game we can change things. That is the reality.

“We didn’t perform. It was not the system or the different players. We didn’t manage our game well enough, just this.

“It was a disappointment but we lost the balls too easy for the goals.

“I think Papy was unlucky because he made a good game with quality and good recovery and good starts with the ball, but he conceded this goal. I was disappointed for him.”

Down to 10 men, Southampton sat deep in the second period, frustrating City, who failed to create enough clear-cut chances.

Puel admits it's an area where his side must improve.

“It was another game in the second half and we attacked all the second half against a team with a lot of unity,” said Puel.

“We saw this team against Chelsea (a 0-0 draw on January 2) and they had a good mentality and work a lot.

“It was difficult for us even when it was 11 versus 10, it was difficult to create chances and find opportunities and movement. It was not enough to come back into the game.

“We played against teams like Everton with a deep block and it was the same situation as Southampton. We played with togetherness and all the time it was easy to defend with a deep block and play on the counter attack. We know this.

“It is a different situation to find the answer to the deep block. It was a difficult for Chelsea against Southampton to find creativity in the final third. But we have to improve.

“Why I say when I speak about having a complete game because we need to perform in all situations, set attack and counter attack.

“We scored a lot of goals this season on counter attack and not enough on the set attack. I think we need to work on this part of our play.”