City boss Bryan Gunn has admitted that after subjecting his players to the 'video horror' of Saturday's farcical 7-1 reverse, it's now down to them to show their true colours.
A Carling Cup trip to Yeovil comes hot on the heels of the Colchester debacle and Gunn and Co will be looking for a huge response from their players before an already shaky situation gets even worse.
Protests and supporter unrest after just one game of the season really is embarrassing and after opening up some nasty relegation wounds, the Canary chief will be hoping that a win and vastly improved performance at Huish Park tomorrow will start the healing process.
After all, it surely can't get any worse than the biggest home defeat in the club's history…
“We'll find out their true character and how they'll recover from the adversity of the weekend with the performances that some individuals put on and as a team,” Gunn said this morning.
“Of course it's a big test of character now for everybody. We've brought in a lot of new signings in the summer and we're going to find out a lot more about them now.
“There is a lot of hard work to be done. We've sat down and we've watched the video horror and that sometimes gets a reaction as well.
“We're trying to do as many things behind the scenes to get the players refocused because there is still a big job to be done.”
Quite how they refocus after such a drubbing will be an interesting one. Messrs Gunn, Crook and Butterworth certainly have one hell of a job to get their players back on track.
You could see the confidence drain rapidly from numbers one to 11 after the second U's goal went in and the manager's supposed 'leaders of men' that were brought to the club in the summer will need to come to the fore with immediate effect.
“We've lost a game of football….heavily,” Gunn told the club's official website. “Obviously it might dent confidence but it's up to us now to rebuild that confidence.
“There was a lot of hype before the game in the local media about being the bookies' favourites for promotion, what with the new signings, but it was all a bit too good to be true really.
“We came crashing back to earth on Saturday. Hopefully we've all learnt lessons from that but you just can't take anything for granted in football.
“Complacency is a good point. Every time we take to the pitch we've got to make sure we fight for the cause and not take anything for granted.
“This is a game that always comes back to bite you on the backside if you think you've achieved things too easily. The players need to realise that this is going to be a very tough league.”
After what can only be described as a nightmare debut, Aussie 'keeper Michael Theoklitos certainly has a fight on for that No 1 jersey and it will be fascinating to see which way Gunn goes tomorrow night in Somerset.
Drop the former Melbourne Victory man and it's hard to see a way back. Stick with him and he may well just repay that faith and turn the corner.
As a former member of the 'goalkeepers union', my money would be on Gunn giving him another crack of the whip.
“We've not made the decision yet. We've got a long bus journey to Yeovil to mull over different scenarios. But he's Australian and those people bounce back from setbacks.
“We'll assess him over the next 24 hours and I'm sure that if he was put down on the team sheet, he'd be the first to try and make up for the errors on Saturday.
“But it's not just him. There were bad team decisions and it's something we need to take responsibility for as a team. We'll work on it in training and prepare for a tough game tomorrow.”
It's not often that you say a trip to Yeovil in the League Cup could shape the rest of your season. But after the weekend's shambles, never has a team needed a response as badly as the Canaries.
It promises to be a fascinating evening…
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Tom Haylett
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