Sam Allardyce believes getting Blackburn Rovers' players enjoying their football is the key to turning around the club's fortunes on the pitch.
Although Rovers made a bright start to the Premier League campaign, a disastrous run of form has seen the Ewood Park outfit slide into the bottom three and up-and-coming manager Paul Ince lose his job.
Former Bolton tactician Allardyce has been enlisted to ensure the former title winners pick up enough points between now and the end of the season to retain their top-flight status.
Allardyce acknowledges the players are under immense pressure to grind out results, although he hopes getting a smile back on their faces will go a long way to moving in the right direction.
"It is the hardest place to live (in the bottom three) because the pressures are greatest," conceded Allardyce.
"I experienced it the first two seasons at Bolton when we came up and it is not an easy place to play but they are paid to perform under all sorts of pressure.
"Under this pressure they have to start playing their best.
"Hopefully we can get an arm around their shoulders, get back to playing as a team and producing our strengths and not letting our weaknesses getting exposed as much.
"The more support we give to the players the better and more comfortable and more confident they are to play on a Saturday.
"As time goes by we will work together for the best results we can get.
"We can all try to enjoy ourselves a bit more because it will feel pretty doom and gloom at the moment when they get out of bed and have to come to the training ground.
"We have to try to remember the way they can play rather than all the negativity which surrounds them at the moment.
"The players look fine to me. Mentally they might be drained and that is the biggest problem you face as a manager because mental fatigue is far greater than physical fatigue.
"But they will hopefully repeat the form they have shown in the past and I'm hoping this is a blip they can overcome with my guidance."
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