Duncan Ferguson says he knows "how sick" Everton fans are after some supporters performed a sit-in protest after the defeat to Aston Villa.
Caretaker boss Ferguson did criticise fans who threw objects onto the pitch after Villa opened the scoring but says the fans who stayed behind after full-time "have the right" to protest.
Defeat means Everton have won just one of their past 14 league matches and Ferguson said he was emotionally "on the floor" after today's 1-0 defeat.
"The fans, for me, can protest and they can say what they want," Ferguson said.
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"Because it's their club at the end of the day and they have the right to support in any way shape or form they want.
"I know how sick they are, believe me, I'm as gutted as much as them."
On the incident which saw objects thrown in the direction of Villa players - and has led to an arrest this evening - Big Dunc said: "I never saw the incident but I've been told about it afterwards. We don't want that, that's bang out of order, that's not the way to do things. Totally wrong."
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Villa opened the scoring in time added on at the end of the first-half and despite improvements after the break, Everton struggled to create many chances.
"I'm on the floor. I'm gutted," he said.
"I was kicking every ball out there, trying my very best to motivate the team and trying to get them across the line.
"I'm sick for the fans, that's the main thing, I was so desperate to get a win today, even a result. I feel for them, I really do, at the end of the day I'm one of them. I've been here for a long time, I know most of them. It's a bad moment for me.
"But I'm proud of the players. They stuck at it, they kept going, they gave me everything and I couldn't criticise them at all but gutted about the result."
