Ben Gibson says Norwich City need to keep believing in themselves as they aim to turn their recent run of defeats around against West Ham United this Saturday (3pm KO).
The Canaries go into the match off the back of three straight defeats, but Gibson says the belief hasn't dwindled behind the scenes.
Prior to Tuesday's defeat against Aston Villa, City had shown significant improvements on the pitch under head coach Dean Smith, and Gibson says they need to return to those levels quickly.
"We were really disappointed (after Villa), more so with the performance because since the manager (Dean Smith) has come in, we’ve been much-improved in our level of performances," said Gibson.
"Results have followed, albeit not to the amount of points we would have liked and probably deserved, but performances have been much-improved.
"That was where we let ourselves down the other night. We didn’t really get ourselves going in the first-half, we gave them too much respect.
"We looked lethargic and what we’ve been doing, we came away from that. To be honest, that’s why we were 1-0 down at half-time. Second-half we came out and gave it a good go but it was too little too late. You can’t give teams like Aston Villa head starts in this league."
The match at London Stadium against the Hammers is City's third in the space of a week, but the packed schedule is something Gibson says the team are accustomed to.
"We’re accustomed to a three-game week after being in the Championship last season. Every week pretty much is like that in the Championship.
"It’s more demanding when you’ve got Covid cases and injuries. Saturday we played against United, Sunday was a recovery and analysis day and then by the end of the session, you’re already looking ahead to Tuesday.
"It’s a quick turnaround, but this is why we are finely-tuned athletes now. We have to control our nutrition, our sleep and it’s why the club employs a lot of staff to help us."
Gibson took the captain's armband for Tuesday's game, in place of the injured Grant Hanley, and he says he enjoys the challenge of driving the team forward.
"I want to make sure I stay fit and stay in the team. I need to keep striving to be better and lead the team when I’m asked to do so in the absence of Grant.
"I need to drive other people on, drive myself on and keep driving those standards within the team.
"The be-all and end-all for myself and this club is to stay in this league. We’ve got ourselves back in the fight, people wrote us off but we kept believing. Yes, we’re currently bottom, but we need to keep working and make sure those results come in."