Blues vice-captain Cole Skuse says the players will have to deal with this season’s increasing expectations and believes they should take responsibility for last year’s relegation, which he admits left him “embarrassed” at times.
"The players have to take responsibility for what happened last year,” the 33-year-old said in an interview with Saturday’s match programme.
"Maybe we didn’t get as much guidance as we would have liked at the start but players cross the white line and have to deliver.
"I have used the word embarrassed about last year when I think back to certain occasions. When you have lost, all you want to do is get off the pitch and shut yourself away in a dark corner.
"That happened a lot last season, we lost a lot of games yet the fans stayed with us, standing in the pouring rain and freezing cold.
"We didn’t deserve that but the least they deserved is for us to show our appreciation to them at the end of the game. Then to get 20,000 at home on Tuesday night in League One, it’s just incredible.
"The expectations are there and we have to deal with that because it’s about getting promoted as soon as possible but we are getting results this year that we wouldn’t have got last year.
"We look more assured, more solid. I know it’s a level down, that is a factor but as a group, with the pre-season we’ve had this year, we have a better understanding of each other and we are better and stronger as a group.”
The former Bristol City man made his 250th Blues start away against the MK Dons just over a week ago.