Boss Mick McCarthy says it’s at times like these that teams need the backing of their fans. The Blues go into today’s home game against fellow promotion challengers Brentford having lost their last two matches.
"They can help or hinder,” said McCarthy when asked whether supporters can play a part in helping his side get back to form.
"Help is a much better one for me. When things are going well it’s ‘We’re all great’. When things are going bad it’s ‘They’re s---e’.
"It disappoints me that, that’s everywhere, by the way, that’s all around the world. That’s not just here.
"And it doesn’t help. I tend to find that when you’ve had a couple of defeats, that’s when you need the support, that’s when you need somebody to put their arm around you and say ‘Listen, come on, it ain’t that bad, we’re a good side’.
"And that comes from a collective, from the supporters. It’ll be a really tough game.
"They’ll have possession of the ball, they’ll keep it. It might be frustrating, we might have to be patient. But let’s hope we all win and we win together.”
With the Blues having dropped out of the top six for the first time since November, fans are inevitably concerned that a season which promised so much might ultimately come to nothing.
McCarthy says only a victory can ease those worries: "The only way we do that is by winning. Nothing I’m going to say to anybody is going to make them feel better. Nothing I’m going to say is going to make them feel less nervous.
"The only way we’ll do it is if we’re walking off at a quarter to five and we’ve won and they’ll all be cheering us off. If we haven’t it’ll be something different.”