Striker Will Keane admitted the Ipswich Town squad have let manager Paul Lambert down during their slide out of the promotion picture.
The Blues have now won just four of their last 23 games in all competitions heading into Tuesday night's vital home clash with Fleetwood - described by Lambert as a must-win game.
While Lambert has taken the bulk of the criticism from the stands in recent weeks, Keane admitted the players must take their share of the blame.
"At the end of the day there's nothing he (Lambert) could have done about the goals we conceded on Saturday," Keane admitted.
"He made it plainly obvious what he wanted us to do - not to take risks in dangerous areas - and it's all about decision-making.
"We were at fault and as a team collectively we need to do more.
"I think the players would probably admit to that (letting the gaffer down) because there's not much more he and the staff can do in terms of setting us up and giving us a gameplan. We know we're capable of doing it but the lads have to take that accountability.
"I think the feeling in the group is that it's not down to feeling the pressure but more doing the basics better and a bit of game management."
Keane also understands supporters' frustrations, as promotion hopes have slipped away.
"We understand how the fans are feeling because we were in a really good positions, up there fighting for it, but we've let that slip," Keane said.
"We know the expectation here and we put that expectation on ourselves, so the way we've dropped off it in the last few weeks hasn't been good enough.
"It's up to us to do something about it and give the fans something to cheer about.
"We have to look at our own performances because we've let ourselves down. We need to take that on the chin.
"The only way we're going to turn things round is by getting the results."
The Blues could give themselves a real boost with victory over Fleetwood tomorrow night, with Keane expecting a difficult encounter with Joey Barton's on-form side.
"It's going to be a tough game for sure," he said.
"They have a lot of tricky players and power up front so we're aware of the threats they pose, but we're at home and we need to think about ourselves.
"We're at home so if we do the right things then there's no reason we can't come out on top.
"They have put a good run together of late (unbeaten in nine) and we're going to need to play well to get something out of this game."
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