Pride in badge can pull Blades through – Ertl

Birch, who is leading a search for new investment at Bramall Lane, describes the failure to win in the last 14 games as ‘agony’ and admits the club’s fans deserve better results.

Austrian international Ertl, meanwhile, says it is ‘rubbish’ to write off the Blades with 12 games of the season still to play.

Ertl, who helped Crystal Palace survive at the expense of Sheffield Wednesday last season, is adamant that results will improve soon.

The Blades visit mid-table Portsmouth this weekend six points adrift of safety in the relegation zone after going 13 league games without a win.

Supporters chanted ‘Sack the board’ and ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ against Derby County last weekend but manager Micky Adams vowed that no one would throw in the towel and challenged his players to prove their doubters wrong.

Birch said: “It is a difficult time for everyone but we are hoping the players and management will be good enough to keep us up and are doing everything possible to support them. Everyone at the club is hurting because of the run of results. It is agony. There is no getting away from it.

“I know the fans are frustrated and, I can assure them, so am I and the rest of the board.

“They are the lifeblood of our club and they deserve to see the team acquiring points as we battle against relegation.”

Although Birch admitted there was no news on potential investment, he insists that relegation from the Championship would not necessarily make that task harder.

“Who can say what would happen if we were relegated? Other clubs have been sold in League One and different people have different risk profiles,” he said.

“We are still looking for investors but there is no further information.”

Summer signing Ertl is confident of winning a second consecutive survival battle.

Ertl, 28, helped former club Palace pull of a memorable escape act last season despite victories in only three of the last 18 games. The Eagles were docked 10 points by the Football League after going into administration but Ertl felt it was the character shown by the players that saved the club from relegation.

“It was a huge experience last season and I learned a lot about how people treat each other or cope with difficult situations,” he said. “Our club was in financial turmoil, there was no chairman left, it was just down to us players. Even though we had so many players out of contract, too, they showed the character and we stuck together.

“We slipped into the bottom three for a couple of games but we kept on fighting and it all went down to the last game at Hillsborough. If you are committed to the club and the cause and wear the badge with pride, you can stay in this league. That is what we have to do now. Everyone has to stick together.

“If anyone drops their head and says ‘this is not going to work out’ – that is just rubbish in my opinion,” he said. “So many people are writing us off but there are still plenty of games left and there is still hope. We have to stay positive and encourage each other because things are getting better.

“There is a fine line between winning and losing and we are so close to getting that win.

“Things may not be dropping for us just now but everyone is doing a good job and we are always prepared right for the games. You can’t blame anybody. “

According to Ertl, the Blades also have the required team spirit to get out of trouble.

“It is a tough league but I think we are going to make it,” he said. “The team spirit is great despite our situation in the league table. We have to show mental strength and toughness now but we can make it because everyone is going in the same way and we are commited.

“We have to believe and stick together. That’s the most important thing. It gets easier if you are winning, you get a momentum going – and that is what we have to fight for first.”

The Blades could soon be boosted by the return of left-back Joe Mattock who has missed the last six games with knee and ankle injuries.

Mattock, 20, has made only three appearances since joining the Blades on loan from West Bromwich Albion two months ago but has now resumed light training.

Adams has allowed former Burnley left-back Stephen Jordan to join Huddersfield Town on loan last weekend.

“With Joe coming back to training and Matt Lowton performing pretty well I just think that Jordan is better served getting games under his belt at Huddersfield,” said Adams.