LEICESTER boss Ruud van Nistelrooy is convinced his Premier League relegation battlers have the backing of the club’s fans.

A section of supporters held a protest march against the Foxes’ hierarchy before last weekend’s home defeat to Arsenal, but Van Nistelrooy said that did not affect his players.

Leicester sit second from bottom in the table after winning only four of their 25 league games this season, and director of football Jon Rudkin has come under increasing pressure from fans.

Foxes chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha called for fans to unite behind the team in his programme notes before the Arsenal game, but Van Nistelrooy believes there is still enough support for his players.

“I do. I think it’s pure passion what you see around you,” the former PSV Eindhoven boss said before Friday’s home game against Brentford.

“Passion for the football club to do better and that is a great thing to see and to feel and to represent that.

“I feel in the Arsenal game we were supported really well. I didn’t hear any negativity. [The fans] were all behind the team.

“We all suffered, off and on the pitch, with those late goals. The protest, I haven’t really seen that because we were already in the stadium preparing for the game.

“So the supporters did that separate from us. So that helped. We were focusing on the game and when we went out there was nothing visible about that and that felt like great support.”

Van Nistelrooy has won just two of his 12 league games since replacing Steve Cooper as Leicester’s head coach in early December, while his side’s last home win came in his first match in charge against West Ham.

The Foxes have lost all five of their following league fixtures at Filbert Way – they have never lost six successive home league games – while Van Nistelrooy said every point is “huge” in their fight to avoid the drop.

Brentford notched their 10th league win of the season at West Ham last week and the Dutchman said of their visit on Friday: “It’s urgent because every game we approach as urgent.

“We have to because every point we can win is a big one. We’ve seen that with one win, like at Spurs, all of a sudden you’re out of the bottom three.

“We’ve lost many games so far, but we’re still in that fight very clearly. We know every point is huge, so every game is urgent, and it always has been since I arrived.”