SAINTS will finish bottom of the Premier League and still have even bigger problems following their 2-0 defeat at 19th-place Leicester City.

The Foxes had not scored for over 12 hours in a league match at King Power Stadium but were still a class above Saints, who remain on 11 points. 

Premier League winner Jamie Vardy took 14 minutes to bag his 10th goal against Saints, in his penultimate match at King Power as a Leicester player.

Vintage Vardy was taking the mick and even blew referee David Bell's whistle while he was grounded, in need of medical treatment and unable to continue.

After a long stoppage, Jordan Ayew added the second for the Foxes with his rebound strike of a free-kick which initially hit the wall and fell back to him.

Southampton's travelled supporters put on an embarrassing display for boss Simon Rusk, chanting Mateus Fernandes' name continuously from the 58th minute to full time after initially booing his surprise substitution. 

Not only had Leicester lost their last nine Premier League games, but they had also not scored in any - putting them on the verge of English football history.

Only once had a team in any of the top four tiers ever failed to score in 10 successive matches, but luckily Saints were coming to town.

Interim manager Rusk named an unchanged team to the one that lost 2-1 to Fulham at home last time out and again prioritised defence over attack.

It did mean Ross Stewart had started back-to-back games for the club for the first time, but he would see very little of the ball in Leicestershire.

The backdrop to the clash was one of relative meaninglessness with both teams already relegated to the Championship - only pride was on the line.

The home fans chanted, "We want Rudkin out," - referencing their director of football, Jon Rudkin - while Saints sang, "Championship again, allez, allez!"

But the Foxes were given something else to make noise about when Vardy scored his 199th Leicester goal in the 17th minute of the match.

The striker occupied the vast space between Jan Bednarek and Jack Stephens and thumped home a low cross from Bilal El Khannouss.

The farewell Vardy tour remained in full swing when referee Webb was knocked over and required treatment for a head injury that took him out of action.

Incredibly, pretending to check he was okay, Vardy leaned over the fallen official, grabbed his hand and blew the whistle he was holding.

The striker laughed as he walked off and Bednarek checked on Webb, who did not return after a concussion assessment that lasted nearly 10 minutes.

Fourth official Sam Barrott took over and called Leicester's second goal right before 12 minutes of added time, as Ayew drilled in a rebound from range. 

The Ghanaian's initial free-kick was into the wall but the power he put behind his second attempt was enough to beat Aaron Ramsdale through a crowd. 

Saints were booed off at half-time and Rusk responded with two changes, bringing Paul Onuachu and Tyler Dibling on for Stewart and Stephens.

Shooting into the goal in front of the Saints corner, fan-favourite Fernandes had a goal ruled out for offside after he followed Onuachu's saved header.

That was the last touch of the ball the Portuguese would have before he was withdrawn with Will Smallbone in place for the final 30 minutes.

The Saints fans booed and voiced their disapproval, singing, "You don't know what you're doing," and chanting Fernandes' name for the rest of the afternoon. 

Saints did not lay a glove on Ruud van Nistelrooy's usually hopeless side for the remainder, meaning they sit level with Derby County's 11 points after 35 games.

Leicester: Stolarczyk; Justin, Faes, Coady, Thomas, Ndidi, Skipp (Golding, 90), McAteer (Evans, 84), El Khannouss (Soumare, 84), Ayew (Monga, 69), Vardy (Daka, 84)

Unused subs: Okoli, Kristiansen, Coulibaly, Iversen.

Booked: Skipp.

Saints: Ramsdale; Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens (Dibling, h-t), Manning; Downes, Ugochukwu (Archer, 79), Fernandes (Smallbone, 57); Kamaldeen (Robinson, 57), Stewart (Onuachu, h-t).

Unused subs: McCarthy, Aribo, Bree, Wood.

Booked: Ugochukwu, Kamaldeen, Harwood-Bellis.

Referee: David Webb (replaced by Sam Barrott).

VAR: Michael Oliver.