Paul Trollope admits the pressure on him is growing after Cardiff City’s revival was punctured before it had really begun.
Trollope conceded injuries are not a vaild excuse for slipping back into the relegation zone after their 2-0 home defeat to Derby County on Tuesday night.
The loss – against a club that had suspended their manager Nigel Pearson hours before the game – quickly demolished any thoughts the previous win at Rotherham might create some momentum for the Bluebirds.
Instead, Cardiff are back in the bottom three, having picked up just eight points from their opening 10 matches.
“”The pressure is on,” said Trollope, who lost striker Rickie Lambert to a hamstring injury that is likely to make him unavailable for the next match at Burton on Saturday.
“Losing Rickie so early in the game was a huge blow to us. That was a bitter blow on top of the strikers we were already missing.
“But I am not here to make excuses. We do have players out but the structure we have means we should have belief we can cope with the quality of opposition we faced.”
Trollope talked about promotion when he was appointed in the summer in succession to Russell Slade, but relegation now appears the club’s more likely route out of the Championship.
Only Derby themselves have scored fewer goals than Cardiff’s total of eight and the absence of Lambert for any length of time will only increase the doubts that the squad has the firepower to turn things around.
Cardiff have just one win from five home league games, and a Bluebirds player has yet to find the net on home turf this term as that lone victory over Blackburn came thanks to a pair of Shane Duffy own goals.
Trollope admitted: “Confidence is not going to be at its best – that’s human nature.
“We’ve taken a few injuries over the last few weeks which we’ll have to deal with, but football always gives you a chance to bounce back quickly.”
“But we have got a belief within the camp we can dig ourselves out of it and move up the table,” he said.
“We were hoping Saturday’s win at Rotherham would be a catalyst for that – obviously it’s not worked out in that manner, which is frustrating.
“We will dust ourselves down, look and learn from it very quickly, and try and get mentally, physically and tactically ready for a trip to Burton. It’s a big game and we’ve got to be ready for that.”
Pearson was suspended by Derby just hours before kick-off following a meeting with owner Mel Morris, as Chris Powell was placed in temporary charge.
Tom Ince set them on their way to three points with a cool finish before Nick Blackman won and converted a penalty after a foul by Cardiff defender Matthew Connolly, who was sent off.