Defender Luke Chambers sees it as a major part of his role as captain to help inspire the players around him, no more so than in the pre-match huddle when he delivers his words of wisdom prior to kick-off.

Chambers said: “I think it has always been part of my role to lift the boys and I’ve always tried to do it. I think I’m similar to the gaffer and have learned quite a bit from him.

“Win, lose or draw he seems to have the same approach to the lads, which is brilliant and helps the boys to forget what’s gone on before and concentrate on what’s going to happen in the future.

“That’s my job with the lads but they’re a great bunch and don’t really need much. They’ve got a lot of experience and we’re still in a great position. We always believed that we could be involved in the chase for play-off places through to the end of the season.”

Chambers said there was never any sign of panic when Town recently suffered three straight league defeats and the pragmatic approach paid dividends when they won their next two games to move within one point of the play-offs, a position that could improve tonight with victory at bottom club Bolton and if results elsewhere are in Town’s favour.

Chambers added: “When things weren’t going well recently I was just trying to approach the huddle in the same way I have always done.

“You are always going to have difficult times — for example, after we made a great start to the season we then had a bit of a lull. We came back from that and I was saying to the lads, basically, that it was still all to play for.

“There was a time recently when Preston went ahead of us on goal difference but now they are five points behind us. In this division, if you win two or three in a row, it has a massive effect and it is shown by the fact that we are now one point off the play-offs with a game in hand.

“I just kept telling the lads to keep believing and keep doing their jobs individually, plus to concentrate not just for 90 minutes but for 96, 97, or however long we’ve got to play.

“I said that if we did that, did the small details right, we would come out on top and we have done in our last two games.”

Town travel to Bolton with their hosts in crisis both on and off the field, propping up the table and 10 points from safety while new owners wait in the wings to take control of a club crippled with £170 million-plus debts and seemingly destined for League One.

The Trotters were in the Premier League as recently as 2012 and Chambers added: “It’s crazy and with the amount of money that’s involved in football nowadays maybe it’s been a mistake that a few clubs have made when they have been relegated, chucking loads of cash at it.

“Money doesn’t get you anything in this division and it shows how the manager and owner at our club have approached it over the last couple of years. Of course we’d love the excitement of, say, being able to sign half a dozen £6 million players but it’s no guarantee of success.

“You look at Derby, who are up and down at the moment and got rid of their manager after spending about £30 to £35 million.

“Sometimes you have to ask yourself the question — do you want to be one of those clubs or do you want to be a club that is fighting their corner on a sustainable front, giving everything they’ve got and the squad’s not full of prima donnas on X-amount a week and expecting to do it without rolling up their sleeves, as the lads in our dressing room do every week.”

Meanwhile, Chambers was asked about his current ‘goal drought’ after eight games without adding to the three he claimed earlier in the season, taking his overall Town tally to 10 in 181 appearances.

The skipper laughed: “Yes, I’m a little bit concerned. But the gaffer’s been holding me back and maybe that’s had something to do with us keeping clean sheets in successive games.

“I’m always looking to get in there but maybe I’ve been resting a bit in the last couple of games so that I could try to get in at the back post in the last minute.”

Photo: Action Images

henryblue added 11:57 - Mar 8 if only our skipper and most vocal player on the pitch wasn't also our worst player
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Penguinblue added 12:32 - Mar 8 Spot on henryblue. What do you think the players really think when the fistpumper takes credit for victories when he is usually the source of goals conceded?
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billlm added 12:41 - Mar 8 Bit harsh to say he's our worst player its not his fault hes playing at right back.
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Terry_Nutkins added 12:54 - Mar 8 What is the point of fans like you. Please go and support someone else.
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Cakeman added 13:15 - Mar 8 The best Captains are not always the best players. In my view Chambers is the best Captain we have had for many a year. He lifts the team and the crowd with his remarkable desire. That in my book is worth several points each season. PS I seem to remember that he has actually scored to win us extra points when all seemed lost.
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CambridgeBlue added 15:26 - Mar 8 Mike Brearley was a very average cricketer but one of England's best cricket captains. Also I don't think there are many right backs in the league who've either scored or assisted 9 goals this season. Think you're being extremely harsh.
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prebbs007 added 17:15 - Mar 8 Glad you've found your role coz it ain't playing RB !!!
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Karlosfandangal added 17:28 - Mar 8 Well done Chambers plays his heart out every week. If there are right backs out there I would guess MM would get them. What's happening with Smith and his contract, if we are letting him go then Chambers can play at the back
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Blue041273 added 17:42 - Mar 8 Henryblue, Penguinblue&Prebbs007 Trolls one and all. Why don't you just go back to Norwich where you belong. Everyone's entitled to an opinion but yours, in this thread, are totally worthless and are not welcomed in the true blue part of the world. True supporters do not criticize the team captain whatever! Certainly not in the context of this article.
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prebbs007 added 17:58 - Mar 8 Blue041273 Rediculous statement to tell me to go to Norwich where I belong !!! I would rather eat my own foot !!! Chambers is an inspirational captain with his heart and desire but is a true liability of a RB. Agreed it's not his fault he is played out of position (he's not the only one) but for anyone to back his ability in that position is madness. He is the worst RB in the league and should be playing in the middle. Everyone knows it, even our manager who picks him. The fault lies with the powers that be who haven't / won't sign a RB to allow him to move across. But just because someone's opinion differs from yours there is no reason to be rude. Use reasoned debate and facts rather than resorting to abuse. Grow up !!!

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Seasider added 18:31 - Mar 8 Nobody is asking for 1/2 doz 6 million pound players Chambo,not even one.Perhaps just a few hundred thousand will do instead of the odd fiver lol. Bit harsh Blue041273 as we are all entitled to our opinions without being slandered.
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runningout added 19:12 - Mar 8 I'm a bit of an odd one, as would like to believe our captain shouldn't need to motivate his fellow professionals too much. Not into the fist pumping until we won something to shout about either
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Blue041273 added 22:26 - Mar 8 OK. Hands up time. I apologise if I have offended. I am not going to try to justify my viewpoint. Simply to say that LC is our captain and RB; while that remains the case he has, along with the rest of the team, my support. Why others who are supposedly supporters of the team feel that it is right to denigrate someone who has served us well, particularly in this thread specifically is beyond me. Nevertheless I acknowledge the right of others to have a different viewpoint and again I am sorry for any offence caused by my intemperant language used in my earlier post.

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