You don’t deserve to be our leader,’ 😡😡😡. Leicester City manager Gary Rowett explained why he didn’t discipline Harry Winks — you won’t believe what he said.

Gary Rowett admitted he might have taken a harder line with Harry Winks over his row with supporters had he been at Leicester City for the long haul.Rowett named Winks in the starting XI on Friday night in the full knowledge the call would go down badly with the stands.

Winks was caught on camera arguing with fans outside Fratton Park after City’s loss to Portsmouth a week earlier, an incident that has seen the crowd turn against him.

The midfielder was booed before coming on as a substitute on Tuesday as Leicester’s relegation was confirmed, then jeered with virtually every touch for at least the first half of Friday’s 1-1 draw with Millwall.

Asked to justify the selection, Rowett said Winks was the only fit option to anchor midfield, with Jordan James not at 100 per cent and Joe Aribo unavailable.But he suggested his approach would have been stricter were he contracted beyond the end of the season, rather than merely seeing out the campaign as interim boss.

Earlier in the week, Rowett had said Winks should not have reacted as he did at Fratton Park, while noting the footage did not tell the full story.Speaking after the Millwall game, Rowett said: “The challenge we had tonight is that he’s our only number six you can play through the lines with and you can keep possession with.My job is to pick the strongest team I had available from a football perspective.

I understand it wasn’t a popular choice. Bringing him on the other day wasn’t necessarily that. But for the league, I have to pick the best team available.“If I’m here long term, certain cultural things wouldn’t happen anyway.

But when you need to finish the season, you have to make those decisions from a footballing perspective.”Pressed on what he meant by “certain cultural things”, Rowett said: “I’m here until the end of the season. I’m not going to start disciplining a player when I’m not going to be his manager necessarily next season.“It’s a little more tricky to act on certain things. I’m not saying in Winksy’s situation but in lots of different situations. That’s the easiest way to put it.”Winks has one year left on his City contract, with a clause triggered by last season’s promotion from the Championship adding a further 12 months.