Harry Souttar has stepped forward to shoulder the blame for Leicester's 4-0 home defeat by Oxford United, insisting the capitulation was "solely down to the players" and had nothing to do with Russell Martin's approach.

Captain takes the stand

The Australia international, speaking to BBC Radio Leicester, was blunt in his assessment. Leicester failed to produce what he called "the bare minimum" in terms of physical commitment, and he says the playing group must own that.

"It doesn't matter what kind of football you want to play," Souttar said. "If you don't compete in the game, if you don't win duels, you don't win tackles, you don't win headers, then you're not going to give yourself a chance."

He acknowledged the first half contained some "OK stuff" in possession, but a failure to compete in the basic contests undermined everything. The issue was raised at half-time, yet the second half brought no improvement. "That cutting edge wasn't there," he added, "and that's solely down to the players. That's the bare minimum and we fell below that. We've got to take responsibility for that."

A historic low

Saturday's result is the heaviest league defeat in Leicester's history at that level of the pyramid. The fan backlash was immediate. Former Foxes forward Matt Piper described it as a "sackable performance" in his post-match analysis, and questions over Martin's future have not gone away.

Souttar, however, is drawing a clear line. He is not pointing at the system or the coaching staff. The players, he says, simply did not carry out what was asked of them.

Young side, heavy burden

Martin's squad this season is deliberately youthful. Five of the starters against Oxford were under 22, including 20-year-old Jayden Joseph and Manchester City teenage loanee Christian McFarlane. A number of high-profile, high-earning players were moved on in the summer, and the club have turned to younger options to drive their return from the third tier.

Souttar himself is one of the senior figures expected to provide a backbone. He has captained the side after spending much of the past three seasons on the periphery, including a lengthy spell recovering from a knee injury sustained on loan at Sheffield United. He made only two appearances for Leicester last season, both after relegation was confirmed.

This campaign he has been central to Martin's plans, and the performances have been mixed. Leicester did record their first league win of the season against Plymouth Argyle in midweek, which made Saturday's reversal all the harder to process.

"In the Plymouth game we looked really good and we felt we could kick on again. It didn't happen," Souttar said. "We'll be men about it. I know that it was far from good enough. And we'll look back at the game, look at the moments that we've simply got to do better."

Stockport up next

Leicester's next test arrives on Saturday, when they host Stockport County. Stockport sit third in the table and arrive in confident form, having put four past Wigan Athletic in their most recent outing.

For Souttar and his teammates, the message is clear. The dressing room accepted public responsibility quickly, but words will count for little if the performance does not shift.

"All we can do as a playing group is put it right next weekend," the captain said.

Whether Martin is still in charge when that game kicks off remains an open question, but for now his skipper has made the players' position clear: this one belongs to them.

Frequently asked

What did Harry Souttar say about the Oxford defeat?
Souttar said the 4-0 loss was "solely down to the players", pointing to a failure to win duels, tackles and headers rather than blaming the manager or the system.
Is Russell Martin still Leicester manager after the Oxford result?
Martin remains in charge as of the time of writing, though the 4-0 home defeat to Oxford has intensified scrutiny of his position at Leicester.
Who do Leicester play next after losing to Oxford?
Leicester host Stockport County on Saturday. Stockport are third in the League One table and arrive on the back of a 4-0 win against Wigan Athletic.