Town striker Will Keane admits that he and his colleagues are letting down manager Paul Lambert, the man who takes most of the flak for his side’s miserable run of form.
Keane created Freddie Sears’s first goal of the season on Saturday to equalise at Blackpool but the home side had the last word when they scored a stoppage-time clincher to make it 2-1.
Lambert, a huge favourite with the fans when he established Town as early-season leaders, has been the main target for criticism after a run that has seen them win just four of their last 23 games in all competitions.
Keane said: "At the end of the day there’s nothing the manager could have done about the goals we conceded on Saturday. He made it plainly obvious what he wanted us to do and warned us about taking risks in the wrong areas. It’s all about decision-making on the pitch and we were at fault.
"It’s not about looking at individuals; it’s about us as a team. Collectively, we all need to do more, and when we are creating chances we need to do more in terms of making the most of them and putting them away. The same applies to keeping clean sheets.
"I think the players would all admit that they are letting the gaffer down. There’s not much more that he and the staff can do in terms of the way they set us up.
"There was a clear game plan at Blackpool and we knew what he wanted from us and that we were capable of doing it.
"The lads have to take accountability and we know we need to step up over the final 10 games of the season.
"There are a lot of home games to come and we know that if we can perform like we did at the start of the season we can beat any team put in front of us.”
Asked if the players were struggling to handle the pressure, Keane replied: "I don’t think the feeling within the group is that it is down to pressure. It’s just, sort of, doing the basics better and improving our game management. We’ve discussed that in the last couple of weeks.
"We looked at the game against Oxford where we were on top and dominating, and we had some opportunities but didn’t take them.
"At the minimum you go into half-time not losing but that changed when they nicked a goal just before the break.
"That was a sucker punch and there was another one late on at Blackpool when we missed a great chance to go 2-1 in front, only to then go and concede a goal that meant we weren’t going to come away with even a point.
"These are crucial times in games when you’ve got to be strong and make sure you’re doing the right things. We’ve let that slip of late.
"The lads were devastated after the game at Blackpool because we had got back into it and pushed on to try to win it. We had a couple of chances and to then throw it away, last kick of the game, made it all the worse.
"Now we have two massive games at home and the aim is definitely to get six points.
"We know our home form is going to be crucial in terms of getting right into mix for the play-off places, so we obviously need to start tomorrow.
"We need fresh minds, to be fully focused and to give everything we’ve got.”
While Town have slipped down the table to ninth, the gap between them and the automatic promotions places has extended to 10 points, which Keane acknowledged is a large gap to make up with games rapidly running out.
He added: "That’s a lot to make up and there are also a lot of teams with games in hand.
"Stranger things have happened, perhaps, but we need to get some consistency back and go on a decent run.
"If we can do that and at least get into the play-off places it will mean we have a chance.
"We need to stay in the hunt and that’s why the games this week are so important. We’re up against teams who are fighting for promotion, like we are, so we know what we’ve got to do.
"We need to obviously do more and also cut out the mistakes to give ourselves a better chance of getting the wins we need.
"The run we have been on is majorly disappointing. We had a tough run before Christmas but we started the new year okay and thought we’d maybe turned a little corner as we started to pick up again.
"But results haven’t gone our way so we have to look at ourselves and admit we haven’t done enough in games. We’ve probably had what was coming to us so we have to take responsibility and do our utmost to change it as quickly as possible.”