Manager Graham Westley told PNE.Com that everybody’s patience should be wearing thin ahead of the visit of Doncaster Rovers.
The North End boss spoke to the official website ahead of training on Thursday lunchtime and said that it was time for people to step up and show the necessary ingredients to turn a run with few defeats into a run of wins.
“We have a job to do and that job is to lose patience with ourselves and get on with the job of winning,” he said. “We have to call upon people to step up to the plate.
“We’ve shown we know how to beat a lot of sides. We just haven’t executed the job in exactly the right way. We have had more than enough in ourselves to win most of the drawn games and we have made silly mistakes that have cost us dearly.”
The opportunity to start that unbeaten run comes against a side the team have already beaten once this season, victorious 3-1 at the Keepmoat Stadium earlier in the campaign: “We went to Doncaster and we did a good job that night,” he continued. “We got a lot right and we didn’t make the silly mistakes.
“We know we have got it in us to beat any team in this league, we are not going to run scared of anyone.
“They are in a good run of form. They are in a good league position; they can’t drop below fourth, whatever the outcome. But we can go within nine points of them by winning and within five points of the fifth-placed team, depending on results.
“We are well in contention – we might not like the look of our league position, but it is about what we do now that will make the difference in our season and it is up to us to turn these horrible drawn games into the victories that we are more than capable of.”
The gaffer acknowledged that the league position was not one that was acceptable for anyone, but feels that with the right expectation and support, things can quickly move onwards and upwards.
“Fourteenth isn’t good enough. The players that we have got here have had their reasons for the performances so far. They are going to have situations where they don’t have the answers, but we have had 32 games, we have done a lot of learning and in fairness to them, we have only lost eight of those 32 games. But, we have now had the time to learn. They have to show that they can learn, that they have learned and step up to the plate.
“My frustration is being deliberately aimed at a loss of patience. I think there comes a time when you look at your team and think ‘you are more than capable of going and winning games if you knuckle down and step up to the plate’ and we have to ask them to do that.
“The crowd have to be right behind them, putting that demand on them, having that expectation level and I honestly think they can deliver. It is just a question of making that mental decision to show they are big enough to do the job that this Club wants,” he added.