BRIGHTON - Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers says the team's poor results this season are down to him as he deflected blame from his players following the 5-2 Premier League loss at Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.

The Foxes defended poorly and gave up possession too easily in another demoralising defeat that left them with a single point from their opening six games having lost their last five matches in a row, their worst start to a season since 1983-84.

Next up is a home match against Aston Villa, who have just three points more in 17th place.

"You can only work hard," Rodgers told BBC Sport. "We need to pick the players up for another home game next week, which will be a big opportunity for us. If we can sustain the game for longer and not make mistakes, we can build towards getting a result."

At the Amex Stadium, Kelechi Iheanacho put Leicester in front and Patson Daka drew them level at 2-2 before half-time. But an own goal from defender Luke Thomas and strikes from Moises Caicedo, Leandro Trossard and two by Alexis Mac Allister, one from the penalty spot and the other a superb free kick, sealed victory for the home side.

"The best team won and that's the reality of it," Rodgers told Sky Sports. "We got off to a great start to the game, but made mistakes to allow them back into it.

"With the ball, we gave it away so cheaply. A team in confidence can see it through, but the guys are suffering with that at the moment."

The defeat will put Rodgers' position in the spotlight and he accepted blame for their plight.

"My focus is on the football and trying to give the players the confidence and structure to our game to get back to winning," he said to BBC Sport. "We will arrive with a new energy, focus and hopefully confidence into the game next week.

"You put the hard yards in now and work, not shirk responsibility. The results are down to me, I am the manager, and we need to go away and work even harder and get that first win."

Leicester could not retain the ball at Brighton, which Rodgers admits was not a one-off.

"It has been a problem for a while," he said. "The simplicity goes out of your game if you lack confidence and you stay on the ball longer than you should. At the moment it is not quite happening for us.

"In spells we look dangerous, but we don't conserve the ball long enough to sustain any period of the game." REUTERS