Steven Gerrard has warned his Aston Villa players that they are staring down at a choice between coming out fighting or shrinking further into their shells.
Villa have endured a challenging start to the new campaign, winning just one of their opening four Premier League games. Supporters at Villa Park are beginning to turn against the Liverpool legend, who was booed off the pitch after they lost to West Ham on Sunday.
With the pressure mounting, things are set to get no easier for Gerrard with Villa facing Arsenal and Manchester City in their next two games. The Gunners are the early league leaders, with City just two points behind.
It is a daunting task for Gerrard to turn things around, with the Englishman having struggled to get his reign going. And the Villa boss has now laid out the full scale of the challenge to his struggling stars.
"You get out of it (tough times) by turning your results around. We've shown before that after a difficult patch we can come through it and put patches of games together in a different way and move up this table," he said.
"I've been through tough times as a player and in my short managerial reign. I've been faced with challenges, heat and pressure, and I'll accept that and take it on my shoulders. There's no one more determined than me to change this current situation.
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"I see this as an interesting challenge for myself in this situation and I won't shirk away from anything. I'll face it head on and try and put it right. I said to the players after the game that we haven't started the season how we would have wanted.
"But we have a choice between going into a shell and feeling sorry for ourselves and the results continue or we step forward. I want my senior players and all my players to step forward. I've got total belief and confidence in these players. We need our players in the best form possible to give us a better chance to get results.
"Arsenal were in this situation themselves 12 months ago when they didn't start the season very well. They've started with a 100 per cent record, but for me that's a fantastic opportunity and a big challenge for me and my players to go and try to ruin that."
Villa travel to Arsenal on Wednesday before hosting City on Saturday, with Gerrard desperately needing at least a positive performance in those outings. If not, the pressure that saw Scott Parker sacked by Bournemouth could be turned on him, with his side sitting just a point above the relegation zone.
If he were to be sacked, it would be a serious blow to Gerrard's managerial ambitions. He had started his time as a coach well, winning the Scottish Premiership with Rangers, but Gerrard has found it difficult to find success since moving south of the border.
