Rotherham United v Huddersfield Town: Leam Richardson on looking for a lift before trying to boost his players

Saturday's visit Championship visit from Huddersfield Town offers a chance to show that hammerings at Coventry City and Norwich City were a blip, and that those who wear the Rotherham shirt still have pride in it.

The Millers' predicament is grim. They have half the points of a Huddersfield team who are themselves in the relegation zone.

And Richardson admits he needed lifting after back-to-back defeats the like of which he had never experienced as a professional.

"Of course you do," he says. "I've been fortunate my career's been quite free-flowing apart from the administration (when he was manager of Wigan Athletic), this situation we're in now and certain other things. It's been quite successful.

"I've got some good people around me, externally as well, because the pressure of the job is always there, you get judged every 72 hours on the pitch, every 24 hours on social media, everyone's got an opinion.

"Five o'clock decisions are very good because they're the ones that haven't been tried and haven't failed.

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"That's the nature of the job we're in. I'm always okay with that, I'm always happy to be judged in the right timeframe. At the minute, not so much."

But Richardson must lift his team, whose mood will be helped if Tyler Blackett's name is on the team-sheet for the first time since tearing his hamstring in October. The left-sided centre-back has been back in full training this week.

The manager claimed he felt sick after the Norwich battering, and hopes his players did too.

"I'd like to think so," he says. "They're professional athletes. It's very important we stay focused and we recognise what our profession means to people.

"It was a very, very disappointing week for everyone involved, certainly for the fans who travelled.

"There's no hiding away from it. We've got to take full accountability.

"The good thing about football is that there's always an opportunity around the corner to give a strong account of yourselves. That's what we've got to do. We have to do that on Saturday.

"The confidence levels have obviously been waning in the last month or two. It's my job to lead, to push forward, to drive standards, to drive good habits to make sure we don't have another week like the last one."