Saturday evening saw Saints fans experience a strange feeling, losing a game of football is not something that we have had to endure much in the last year, we were down to the bare bones and battled hard, but ultimately it was not enough.
The bad news an hour before the kick off was that Danny Ings would be playing no part in the game, but we could still get a decent side out, however the bench contained several names that all but the most dedicated Saints supporter would not have heard of.
Indeed you would not have many arguments that the three most influential players this season and the rock that our success is built on are Jannik Vestergaard, Oriol Romeu & Danny Ings, they have been the spine of or team and all three were missing from the squad for the trip to the King Power.
Most teams would struggle if they were to lose their 3 best players and add to that other key members of the squad like Nathan Redmond & Moussa Djenepo are out injured and it is testament to Ralph Hasenhuttl that we can still compete.
But we started well and looked quote comfortable, Will Smallbone slotting in on the right and Stuart Armstrong switching to the left , it was an end to end game and both sides had their chances.
As half time approached there was nothing between the sides, but then came the key moment in the game, James Maddison shrugged off Jack Stephens and lashed the ball from a tight angle, it was certainly a fast and hard shot, but Alex McCarthy had got his angles wrong and seemed to be expecting a low shot and got in a bit of a mix and the ball flashed over his head and in at the near post.
This was just about our only lac of concentration during the game, but it was enough and it turned out to be the winning goal although minutes later Saints almost equalised with Schmeichel having to make a superb save from a Ryan Bertrand piledriver.
After the break Saints kept their shape and kept going, There was more woe for Saints on the hour mark when the impressive Will Smallbone had to go off with a knee injury, it was from an innocuous challenge and that usually means bad news for both the players who can ill afford another injury, especially since Ryan Bertrand will miss the next game after picking up his 5th yellow card of the season.
Both sides could have scored in the second with Stuart Armstrong rattling the bar with a 25 yard shot, it looked a penalty as the ball dropped and Shane Long was bundled over but he was off side in the build up and so Leicester were given a free kick.
But it was Leicester who got the second goal of the game deep into injury time as Saints pressed forward for the equaliser, the Foxes winning the ball and getting it forward to Harvey Barnes who was through on goal and gave Alex McCarthy no chance, it was harsh for Saints and a goal that had it been conceded earlier in the game would have been poor, but no blame can be given, with only seconds left of injury time we had to throw caution to the wind and gamble, this time it didn't pay off.
There were plenty of plus points to our performance, under adversity we didn't crumble, but for us it was a game too far with the squad missing so many key players, some will moan about the depth of the squad, yes of course we could do with another player or two, but I cannot remember another time when we have had so many injuries at once, for me it actually shows that the squad has depth and a number of youngsters who can step up to the plate when needed.
We took on Leicester a team who could well finish in the top 4 this season and matched them all the way with a depleted team.
We have to take this defeat and learn from it, unless the key players are back and back fast, we can still win games, but it will be tough and lt might be that we have to accept that it is a top 10 place we are fighting for not top 6, that will be decided by how quickly we get the spine of our team back.
It was a disappointing night, but only from the perspective that we were beaten and it is a feeling that we are not used to of late, but there were still a lot of plus points and going forward both this season and next, we can truly be a side that competes.