Tony Gale believes Leicester's senior players need to step up to the plate after the 1-1 draw with West Brom left them with just one win in eight Premier League games.
Leicester remain in the bottom three, two points from safety, and Gale is concerned that not enough people at the club are giving sufficient support to manager Craig Shakespeare.
Speaking on Sky Sports News, Gale said: "He's finding himself in a position maybe that [Claudio] Ranieri did before him when he was assisting Ranieri. He's in that position now where he's got to look at his backroom staff and he wants their backing.
"Craig Shakespeare needs everyone behind him, players, staff and more importantly the people above just to show a little bit of patience with him to come through this difficult period.
"They've got enough good players but it's up to those top players to step up to the plate, Mahrez, Vardy, the guys that were so instrumental.
"But having lost Drinkwater and Kante, that is a key area that they've lost for me, the middle of that midfield where they were excellent."
Leicester have a chance to put things right against a couple of other struggling teams in the next fortnight. They travel to Swansea on Saturday before hosting Everton on October 29, live on Sky Sports.