Boss Paul Jewell has revealed that plenty of other managers called him last week in the wake of the Blues’ 7-1 loss at Peterborough. Jewell says managers empathise with how other bosses feel after being on the end of such heavy defeats.
Jewell said: "I’ve had calls from a lot of managers this week because when you see a result like that come through, you feel that sickness in the stomach for the manager. You know that it’s a hopeless case when you’re 6-1 down with 50 minutes got with nine men against 11.
"You’re not going to be coming back from that, you’re just hoping that it doesn’t become double figures.
"Sunday and Monday were difficult days. But I wanted them to be difficult days. I would have been disappointed if the players came in doing cartwheels.
"The players are, I think, as embarrassed and as hurt as I am, I certainly hope so. But I think bringing in new players, and particularly Jimmy Bullard, that might give us a lift, the extra lift we need.”
The Blues’ boss says today’s match is ideal in the circumstances: "There’s no bigger lift than playing a home game against a team like Leeds United.
"That’s why we worked hard as kids to become footballers. All the kids in the street today want to become footballers and we’re in a privileged position that we are footballers.
"We’ve got to earn the right, not just the players, I have to take the responsibility because I’m the manager and we’re not doing it at the moment.
"We’re getting punished for basic, basic errors. I said that from day one, from before the Bristol City game, and it’s an area where we’ve got to be better - we’ve got to be more ruthless. When we come under pressure, we’ve got to be stronger people.”
Jewell is confident that he will get things right, although he hopes supporters will stay patient, and is at pains to point out that the season is still in its early stages: "We know we’ve got to earn the respect and the support of our fans and hopefully we can get that back. We’ve still got 126 points to play for. If we can get another 85 points out of that I think we might be promoted.
"When you look at our team on paper, it just needs time, it needs a couple of results to gel, to get some confidence and I’m sure we’ll be fine, I really am. But I’m not here thinking everything in the garden’s rosy.
"When you’re beaten by five and seven it takes some getting over but we’ve got to get over it quickly.”