Ange Postecoglou refused to throw his players to the wolves despite Tottenham’s 2-1 home defeat to Leicester City on Sunday.

The Australian has found himself under intense scrutiny after Spurs’ alarming decline in form, losing 13 of 23 Premier League games this season.

The 59-year-old has received public backing from the Spurs board in recent weeks, with an acknowledgement that their injury crisis has made his job even more difficult.

But losing against relegation-threatened Leicester – who had lost their previous seven matches in a row – may be the final straw for chairman Daniel Levy as Spurs are left languishing in 15th position in the table.

Postecoglou was spotted waving to the Tottenham fans, who let out a chorus of loud boos at the final whistle. And his body language suggested he was perhaps resigned to losing his job.

After the game, the Spurs boss admitted results have been “very disappointing” but praised his players’ efforts during a turbulent period.

“Yeah, it hurts. It hurts a lot. The players gave everything again. We are going to look at a lot of things, but in terms of effort I can’t ask anymore of this group, things just didn’t go our way today,” he told Sky Sports.

“We created some good opportunities and unfortunately things just didn’t drop for us because not because the players weren’t trying and that’s the main thing.

“The players are giving everything they can. That is all we can ask for as a football club and me as a manager.

Spurs had led through Richarlison’s first goal of the season, before Jamie Vardy and Bilal El Khannouss’s quick double salvo shortly after the break gave Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side a vital win.

Postecoglou conceded he was unhappy with how his side let the game slip through their grasp, but he pleaded for patience as he prepares to welcome back key players from injury – having been left without over 10 players for the game.

“You can analyse the goals, they were disappointing goals for us to concede, but I thought we had enough chances in the game to come out on top,” he added.

“When you’re in this situation, they are trying as hard as they can and sometimes that doesn’t give you the clarity in decision making.

“You can ask is for people to do as much as they can and from my perspective I see a group of players that are giving as much as they can. I know it will turn. We’ll get some players back, we were short again today, but in the next couple of weeks there’s some really important players coming back that I know will help this group.”

When quizzed on if he was worried about his position, he replied: “I’m a football manager and I get judged on results, that is the way of the world.”