Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy has hit out at the "unfair" criticism the club's players have received following the sacking of Claudio Ranieri last week.

A number of senior players were accused of having a role in the decision to part company with the title-winning Italian just nine months after the club sensationally won the Premier League last season.

However, Leicester responded with a 3-1 victory over Liverpool in their first game under caretaker boss Craig Shakespeare, and Vardy - who scored twice in the win - believes that the team can hold their heads up high following their performance.

"We've come in for a lot of unfair stick with things that have been in the press but you've seen that the lads wanted to react. The performance did that and we want to do it consistently," he told Sky Sports News.

"I couldn't put my finger on why we haven't been doing that regularly. We've been working hard and it's just not been happening. I wouldn't say it's a case of more effort. Shakes [Craig Shakespeare] asked me to play higher up. I did that and I managed to get in behind quite a lot.

"I've been very frustrated with the amount of goals I've got this season but hopefully these will push me on. We needed to show that we've got that fight and win or lose, as long as the performance was right, we could hold our heads up high."

The win sees Leicester climb out of the relegation zone and up to 15th in the Premier League table.