Liam Fox insists he can handle the pressure after Dundee United were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Kilmarnock on Saturday – their fourth defeat in a row.
Kyle Vassell was the Killie hero, scoring the only goal of the game to take the Ayrshire side through to the quarter-finals.
It was another miserable day for United who are currently propping up the Premiership with the club’s fans growing increasingly restless.
However, head coach Fox continues to believe in himself and his squad.
The 39-year-old said: “There’s always a lot of noise but we will get back on the training pitch. I still have belief in this group of players.
“We will shut out the noise, there is no self-pity from us.
“When you’re under pressure, you just have to keep working hard and stick to the process.
“People will have their own opinions on me and that’s fine, but in my experience of working with other managers when you’re chopping and changing it becomes a bit muddled.
“When you’re the manager of this club and you’re bottom of the table, you expect criticism.
“We can roll over or we can get back up and get going again.
“We have a run of fixtures which are difficult games but ones we feel we can take points from.”
United’s Killie defeat was made worse when on-loan Huddersfield defender Loick Ayina was sent off in the second half for two yellow card offences.
However, Fox is certain the 19-year-old, who was making his debut for the club, will learn from the experience.
Fox added: “I thought he did great, he’s a young kid and he’s going to make mistakes.
“He had two fouls in the game and both of them were bookings.
“I thought the first one was harsh but he will learn from it. When you’re on a yellow card you have to make better decisions.”
Meanwhile, Killie boss Derek McInnes was able to look forward to a quarter-final with his sights set on making it to Hampden Park once more after playing Celtic in the semi-final of the League Cup last month.
The 51-year-old said: “The crowd were different class today. Everybody dreams of a cup success and why not us?
“We’ll see what the draw brings but we’re 90 minutes away from Hampden again.
“You can get a bounce from cup football but the priority is the league. However, we want to get back to Hampden as well.”
