Claudio Ranieri says the formation change he made was the reason for Leicester's 3-0 defeat to Southampton Claudio Ranieri says the formation change he made was the reason for Leicester's 3-0 defeat to Southampton

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri said he was to blame for the champions' 3-0 defeat to Southampton at St Mary's on Sunday afternoon.

Goals from James Ward-Prowse, Jay Rodriguez and Dusan Tadic consigned the Foxes to a second consecutive 3-0 defeat and Ranieri put the results down to his decision to change formation.

The Foxes are yet to win on the road in the Premier League this season and remain 15th in the table, just five points above the relegation zone.

"The last two matches I changed the shape to help my players to play better and find the right solution," the Italian said.

Southampton's players celebrates their win over Leicester

"But maybe I made mistakes and was wrong - against Chelsea, when I played with three at the back and today, when I played with a diamond.

"My players are used to playing in a 4-4-2, or 4-2-3-1, or 4-4-1-1, and they recognise the position, the game, the movement, everything.

"I wanted to give something more, but I made a mistake and I was wrong.

2:51 Southampton 3-0 Leicester Southampton 3-0 Leicester

"It is much better to give to them what they know very well. I looked and had to push a lot with this system, this mentality, but keep going and improve of course."

With his side 2-0 down at half-time, Ranieri brought on Marc Albrighton for the ineffective Nampalys Mendy and changed shaped but the closest the Foxes came to getting back in the contest was when captain Wes Morgan side-footed over from close range with 18 minutes to go.

Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Leicester

"We tried to change our shape and make a goal," said Ranieri. "Maybe if we had scored with the skipper, then we would have had a chance, maybe it would have changed the match.

"But that is not an excuse. They won, played better than us and deserved to win."