Assistant manager Chris Hutchings says he, manager Paul Jewell and the players are remaining positive despite the Blues’ disappointing start to the season. The one-time full-back with tonight’s opponents Brighton says the squad remain fully behind the management.
Hutchings said: "Paul’s always positive. We haven’t got the points that we have deserved from the performances, which is very frustrating.
"If there is something good to come out of out those games it’s that we’ve created plenty of chances, so we’ve got to take that forward.
"If we weren’t creating chances, then I think that you’ve got a problem but we’re creating chances. We didn’t create as many on Saturday, but we got a point.”
He says he always tries to be an upbeat influence around the training ground: "That’s me as a person. My glass is always half-full, never half-empty. I always put across the positives.
"We’ve shown DVDs of how we’ve played in recent games where we’ve created plenty of chances and haven’t taken them.
"You can work on finishing all week, but when you cross the white line it’s down to that individual. Are they composed? Do they pick the right option? Do they make the right decision? How are they going to strike it?
"Are they sidefooting it or whatever it might be. It’s always about making the right decisions and players carrying out [instructions].”
He says the mood in the squad is also still buoyant, although he feels what’s worked on at Playford Road isn’t always being translated on to the pitch: "We’re all very positive people, the players are positive.
"We’ve brought a little bit more experience in at the back with Danny Higginbotham coming in from Stoke and we’re grateful to Tony Pulis for allowing us to have him for a month.
"We’d like to bring one or two more in. We’re always on the look-out, always working hard on recruitment and when you’re getting beaten the players have to look at themselves sometimes.
"We feel that we’re doing things right on the training ground, but the players have got to implement those things out on the pitch.”
But he feels the squad remain fully behind himself, Paul Jewell and the rest of the staff: "People can write what they want, with all due respect. But we haven’t lost the dressing room, far from it.
"You talk to the players, you’ll always get one or two disgruntled players who aren’t playing, that’s par for the course in any club, but the players are behind everyone.
"We don’t even think about it, we don’t even talk about it, we’re looking forward to the games coming up.”
Nevertheless, he’s well aware of the speculation about Jewell’s position, and in turn his own: "We think there’s pressure in every game. We’ve been successful in the past, we’ve won things and the players have got to take that on board as well.
"It’s only hard work which that gets you out of trouble, and being clinical. You’ve got to be resolute in your own box and you’ve got to be clinical in the opposition’s box.
"Whatever you do in the middle of the park, it’s all fancy, it’s nice at times, but if you don’t take your chances, you don’t win games. It’s the same old story anywhere.
"There’s always going to be speculation about all the managers in the leagues,” he added. "It’s always ongoing, isn’t it? It’s part of the profession. You just get on with it, deal with it and you move on to the next game and hopefully get three points to build on Saturday’s result.”
Jewell celebrated his 48th birthday on Friday — "we had a nice cake," says Hutchings, "the players didn’t” - and stayed at his home in Ilkley after the Barnsley game before returning to Suffolk on Sunday evening, a break which his assistant says managers sometimes need: "He was only 45 minutes away from home at Barnsley, so he went home after the game.
"It’s good to step away for a couple of days. I think you have to. It’s a pressure cauldron, but we deal with it and get on with it.
"I think sometimes you have to re-energise yourself, take a step back, have a look at how we’re doing things and what we can improve on. You’re continually looking to improve.
"But he’s still confident in his own ability, he’s a good, good manager and the players recognise that as well. We just need a couple of good results and we’ll be up and running.”