Aston Villa keeper Brad Guzan sprang to the defence of manager Paul Lambert despite the Scot coming in for the heaviest criticism he has received yet from Villa fans.

Chants of ‘We want Lambert out’, ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ and ‘We want our Villa back’ emerged during this desperate display at Leicester.

But Guzan believes the players deserve to take the flak, not Lambert, due to their performances which have yielded just 11 goals in 21 Premier League games.

Aston Villa keeper Brad Guzan, in action on Saturday, has sprung to the defence of manager Paul Lambert

Villa fans appeared to lose patience during Saturday's loss with some chanting 'We want [Paul] Lambert out'

‘When you go through difficult times everyone has got to take their criticism,’ he said. ‘The manager has been brilliant in defending us but we are the ones who have to score goals. He can’t go and score for us and the coaching staff can’t score for us.

‘Us players have to take responsibility and I know the fans are unhappy, we hear them during the game, but they need to realise it’s a difficult moment for the players and fans but we need to stick together.

‘Regardless if they are unhappy with the manager or situation, we need to stick together and work hard in training because it’s about the club.

Christian Benteke, riding a challenge during Saturday's defeat, has struggled with injuries this season

‘We are trying to score goals. We’re not purposefully going out there saying, “Let’s just keep the ball and forget about trying to go forward”.’

Paul Konchesky’s goal in first-half stoppage time was enough to condemn Villa to defeat. They could have conceded many more but Guzan was sensational in goal.

At the other end, Villa’s goal drought is now longer than six hours. In fact, they did not even test Leicester goalkeeper Ben Hamer.

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert looks frustrated during the 1-0 loss to Leicester on Saturday

Lambert again insisted he would not walk away from this job but many more performances like this and it can only be a matter of time before that decision is taken out of his hands.

‘I’ve always been used to pressure,’ he said. ‘I have to fight it off again. There’s only two ways you can meet a fight, head on or run away from it. I’m not one to run away from things.’

There was controversy late on as Matty James and Ciaran Clark were both red carded, the former for challenging Jores Okore and the latter for his part in a melee, and the pair had to be separated leaving the pitch.

Nothing, however, could take away from Leicester’s performance which saw them move to within three points of safety. Konchesky even claimed his goal, just the 16th of his career, was the most important he has ever scored.