Keeper Will Norris has revealed that the Town squad had a "good, honest chat” in the dressing room following Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Portsmouth.
The loss was the Blues’ second in two League One games - and third in a row in all competitions - with Town now without a win in five league games since they beat Rochdale 1-0 at Spotland on November 5th.
Saturday's reverse at Fratton Park saw the Blues drop to third behind leaders Wycombe by seven points and Peterborough on goal difference.
"It was one of them that could have gone either way, and it hasn’t gone our way unfortunately,” Norris said after Saturday's game.
"We didn’t quite have the rub of the green in certain situations, they’ve taken their chance and it’s one of them.
"We had a good, honest chat in there as a group and we’ll put it right [on Sunday] on the training pitch.
"It was a good discussion, a very honest discussion. I’m not going to say what was said but the manager and the boys have all had a good reflection on that already and we will again tomorrow, and we’re going to put it right.”
What was the mood like in the Fratton Park dressing room? "It was a very disappointed atmosphere. We have had an honest conversation, it’s something that stays in the changing room.”
The 26-year-old says that in those circumstances everyone has their say, not just the senior players.
"Of course, we’ve got an experienced group,” he added. "It comes from the leaders on the pitch, like the Skuses and Chambos, but everybody does get their say.
"We’re all pointing in the same direction and I think this is a tough place to come at any time but if we want to achieve what we want to achieve this season, we can’t be losing games like we did today.”
Norris says it’s not unusual for a squad to have a chat along those lines: "Not at all, we all get our say whether we win, lose or draw. But today it’s not gone our way and it’s important how we bounce back.”
He says manager Paul Lambert instigated the conversation to get the squad’s views: "He always wants to hear our thoughts as players, it’s not just a one-off thing because we’ve lost today and we’ve lost two on the spin now.
"It’s not something that he’s just instigated because he always wants our feedback, he wants to know what it was like out there for us and wants our opinions and that’s a good environment to achieve what we want to achieve.”
Norris believes it’s better that a manager takes that approach rather than being more dictatorial: "Yes, he can shout at us until he’s blue in the face but that’s not going to change anything that’s happened today, I think you have to have a conversation like adults sometimes.”
Did the discussion cover the situation more widely rather than just the Portsmouth game? "Yes, he wants to pick our brains, he wants to know our thoughts and we told him as a group and he’s told us what he thinks as well.
"I’m not going to get into what was said in the changing room, it will have happened in the Portsmouth changing room too, [their manager Kenny Jackett will] probably ask what they thought today. It’s something that happens in football.”
Norris says the squad feel they can be honest in those circumstances: "Yes, definitely. You can’t hide behind excuses or lies or untruths, it is what it is. You call a spade a spade sometimes.”
Reflecting further on recent downturn, Norris said: "No one likes to lose games. And if we want to achieve what we want to achieve this year then this run of form isn’t good enough and it needs to stop.”
After the impressive start to the season, Norris was asked if he was surprised that the Blues now find themselves in their current circumstances.
"Every team is going to have their purple patch in the season, every team,” the on-loan Wolves man continued. "At the moment it’s about limiting how many points we’re dropping and getting back to winning ways.”
His message to fans given the recent run? "Stick with the boys, it’s the same squad that was winning every game at the start of the season. All you can do is stick with the boys, it was a fantastic support down here today and keep backing the boys.”
Norris made a number of important saves against Pompey, was he pleased with his display? "There’s always room for improvement, I’m my own biggest critic. No one has to tell me about my performance today. Like I say, I’m not here for a pat on the back, as a team we lost today and that’s what hurts me the most.”
Regarding Ronan Curtis’s winning goal, Norris says he’ll look at whether he might have kept it out back at Playford Road.
"I thought I got a good hand on it, it’s had a wobble, but it’s one of them,” he reflected. " I’ll review it tomorrow with Wacker [keeper-coach Jimmy Walker] and the goalkeeping department and speak to the manager about it. It is what it is, we haven’t taken our chances today and they’ve taken theirs.”
Norris says the rest of the squad felt sorry for Toto Nsiala, who was subbed seven minutes before half-time due to concerns that the centre-half might pick up a second booking.
"That was nothing to do with his performance, he got a very unjust yellow card, I thought,” he said. "It was player protection from the manager. It was purely tactical and not a reflection on Toto or his performance at all.
"It was a tactical switch, there was no sour grapes from anyone in the team because it was a tactical decision and I thought Toto was playing really well.
"His confidence on the training pitch is high at the moment, and he can go in and do a good job. It’s not a reflection on him at all.”
Norris has played five games since keeping his last clean sheet at Rochdale with Town having gone six games since last not conceding. The one-time Cambridge United man knows that the Blues need to return to their early season tightness at the back.
"Yes, definitely, I feel like the goals are coming and the clean sheets are coming,” he insisted. "We’ve just been on the wrong side of a few results lately, it’s no time to hit the panic problem, definitely not.”
Norris says the squad are still confident that they can achieve their aim of winning promotion this season.
"This time last year, you had Portsmouth and Sunderland top, and they’re still in this league, he added.
"No medals are handed out in this month, but this is where they’re earnt.
"I think today we need to have a look at the performance and we need to be winning these games, but no medals are handed out this month.”