Leicester's caretaker manager Craig Shakespeare admits 'there was more fire in the belly' after hurtful criticism

Shakespeare was pleased with the response of his players, who saw off Liverpool in a rousing 3-1 win, who he admits have underperformed in recent weeks

(Getty)

Leicester City’s stirring victory over Liverpool was the perfect response to the criticism that has engulfed their players since manager Claudio Ranieri’s dismissal, according to caretaker manager Craig Shakespeare.

Speaking after his first match in caretaker charge brought Leicester’s finest league display of the campaign, Shakespeare said: “I think some of it is human nature when people criticise you there is bound to be a reaction.” He added: “I know the criticism has hurt and perhaps there was a little more fire in the belly because of that. They know they are guilty of underperforming - but this is only one result and we must build on that.”

Leicester’s win lifted them out of the bottom three and ended a five-game losing streak in the Premier League and man of the match Jamie Vardy, scorer of two of the champions’ goals, echoed Shakespeare’s words when he declared: “We've come in for a lot of unfair stick with things that have been in the press but you've seen that the lads wanted to react.”

Shakespeare praised Leicester’s players for a show of unity in their back-to-basics display, which also did his prospects of continuing in the role, at least for the short term, no harm at all. “We spoke about how as a group we had to make sure we showed unity and togetherness,” he said, “and from the word go you could see we started the game really well. The fans were excellent and got behind the team, you could see the first goal was always going to be important and to get the first goal it gave everyone a lift.

“I think knowing Claudio he will say that’s football,” he added when asked how Ranieri would have viewed his old team’s sudden revival. “He said that to me on Thursday night and reminded me of that on Friday morning, I think he will realise that is football. The performance I saw tonight I saw it against Man City [in December] – we have done it but not enough.”

As for whether he wants the job on a permanent basis, the 53-year-old Shakespeare added: “Do I think I am capable of it? Yes. Does it faze me? No, but it is with the powers-that-be. The owners decide. It will take its course, they will sit down, and I will try to prepare the team as well as I can for Hull [at home on Saturday] unless told otherwise.”

Vardy's brace helped to sink Liverpool (Getty)

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was, by contrast, quite scathing about his team’s performance, declaring: “It was not good enough in the beginning, it was not good enough in the middle, it was not good enough in the end”.

It was Liverpool’s fifth defeat of this season against opposition from the bottom half of the table and keeps them a point behind fourth-placed Arsenal, who they host at Anfield on Saturday. Klopp demanded a reaction, saying: “The job we have to do is react again on it – and react and react and react. What happened tonight has happened too often this season already. Everybody who follows us over the whole year knows how good we can be, so that makes it even worse to accept a performance like this.”

Liverpool have won only two of their 12 games in all competitions since the turn of the year and Klopp, asked whether his players were good enough, admitted that he too was under pressure to deliver.

“We all play, myself included, for our future. We get judged every day, especially on matchdays. Of course performances have an influence on these things. I don’t think they are not as good as I thought they are but I think they need my help more to show it every week. When you lose I feel maximum responsible because I am. I hope I used the word we and not they. Because I am involved in this and it is not a moment to make assessments like this, especially not in public.”