Leicester’s “cheesed-off” stars ­want answers from the club's top brass over the surprise firing of Craig ­Shakespeare .

The Foxes ’ Thai owners, led by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, are facing a players’ backlash after axing manager ­Shakespeare just eight Premier League games into the season.

Caretaker boss ­Michael Appleton revealed he faced questions from ­players during a “raw” team meeting — the first since Shakespeare got his P45, with the Midlands side in the bottom three following Monday's draw at home to West Brom.

Appleton, left, is now in the hot-seat after Shakespeare, right, paid for a poor start (
Image:
PA Wire)

Former Shakespeare No2 Appleton, who is in charge for an ­awkward test at Swansea ­on Saturday, said: “The ­meeting before we went out to training was a little bit raw.

“People were ­disappointed and wanted questions ­answering, but I’m not the person for that.

“[But] Coming off the pitch, from lads who were a little bit cheesed-off first thing and down in the dumps in the meeting, they actually had smiles on their faces because they enjoyed the session.”

Wes Morgan, Harry Maguire and co had questions Appleton could not answer (
Image:
Getty)

Appleton, 41, admitted he could not answer players’ questions, but hinted he will allow them to approach the hierarchy directly after the weekend game at the Liberty Stadium.

“The questions are for ­certain senior members of staff and not myself,” he said. “I didn’t release Craig and I’m not sure of the reasons.

“If there’s a million and one questions thrown at me ­regarding ‘Why this?’ and ‘Why that?’, then they’re probably asking the wrong person.

“I’m sure those ­conversations will take place over the coming days. But from my point of view, I’d rather they didn’t take place going into the build-up to a game.

“I fully expect the focus to be on the game and then if people want to raise those questions, I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to do that at a different date.”

Appleton played down suggestions that men who have tackled four of the ­Premier League’s Big Six ­already this season, should be blamed for ­Shakespeare’s fate.

“I’m sure there is a sense of responsibility but the feeling within the camp is that there wasn’t that much wrong,” he said.

“So it’s hard to pinpoint responsibility on a group of players when the ­atmosphere and the feeling within the group was actually a positive one.”

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