Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate has vowed to bear the brunt of any criticism heading his side's way in order to protect his players.
Boro currently sit joint bottom of the Premier League after a disappointing first half to the season, and the players are coming under ever-increasing scrutiny as they search to end a 12-game winless streak.
Southgate suffered tough times during his own playing career, having famously missed a penalty against Germany to knock England out of Euro '96, and the former defender feels that it is times like these that have made him impermeable to the sort of criticism aimed at him and his side.
"I'll take it all on board because I have got broad shoulders and no matter what is thrown at me, I am going to keep coming back for more," he insisted.
"You either walk away from it - and that's weak - or you stand and you fight and you dig in, and that's the only option for us because otherwise, you sit and feel sorry for yourself and think the world is against you.
"It's not. We have got to work hard, we have got to make sure we roll our sleeves up, we get on the training ground, we keep trying to improve."
But Southgate's charges need to turn things around quickly if they are to stop the rot and drag themselves out of the relegation places.
"Listen, it's not where we want to be, but how do we get ourselves out of it?" Southgate retorted.
"We stand firm as a group, we work our socks off, we learn from when things don't go right.
"We are the youngest team in the league and we are going to make sure we get through this."
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