Lee Martin awaits the appointment of his third manager since joining Ipswich in 2009 and agrees that he and his Town team-mates had a major part to play in Paul Jewell’s departure.
Martin said: "The more you are in football you know to always expect the unexpected. Nothing really surprises me. We’re all bitterly disappointed, more so in ourselves because we need to look at ourselves more than anything else.
"But we can’t dwell on it too much because we have a game on Saturday and it’s important to get our heads down and concentrate on that. It hurts massively that we are in this situation.
"I’ve been on a real low, especially after the defeat by Derby and then the manager going. As players we do care.”
Martin & Co have failed to win any of their last 11 games and in their last five they have taken the lead, only to relinquish it and collect a mere two points from a possible 15.
He added: "Getting the second goal is vital. It would give us a bit more belief and point us in the right direction, and make us believe that we are going to get the three points.
"That’s the important thing, especially down the bottom, because your confidence does get battered and you’re at a low. It’s important that we try to get that second goal when we’re on top and take it from there. Hopefully, if that happens, we won’t look back.
"This type of situation is never easy and especially when it results in losing the manager. You’d be mad not to look at yourself and criticise yourself. All the other players in there are doing exactly the same.
"We all analyse our own games individually and if someone isn’t pulling their weight or making mistakes they need a rollicking and that’s what you give them. Certain players need an arm round their shoulders and others need a kick up the backside.
"Confidence is low but we all have to embrace the situation. It’s a challenge and most of the players — we have quite an experienced group — have been through it. We know what we have to do. It’s down to us to lift the crowd and get them going.”