Stewart Downing has called on his Middlesbrough teammates to improve quickly or face being sucked further into the relegation scrap at the bottom of the Premier League.
Boro's defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday has left them one point above the drop zone, but only on goal difference and three points above bottom-placed Sunderland.
Aitor Karanka's side have only managed four victories following promotion from the Championship and their struggles have been laid bare by recent poor form, winning once in their last dozen outings.
Wins vs Premier League teams in 2017:
MILLWALL - 3
Leicester - 2
Crystal Palace - 2
Liverpool - 1
Middlesbrough - 0
Bournemouth - 0 pic.twitter.com/FYRVE3rjzZ
The Teesiders also have the weakest attack in the division, with a paltry return of just 19 goals from 26 games.
We'll go to Stoke to get a result ”and we have home games to come as well,"Downing said.We have to stick together. It's easy to feel sorry for yourselves when you lose games and you're down there.
It's about where we are at the end of the season. So we just have to forget losing at Palace last weekend and get on with getting points as soon as we can.
There's no point dwelling on that now, we've got a big game for us next week, and a chance to put that right.We have to do what Palace have done against us “ bounce back.�
Following the Stoke game, Boro will have crucial relegation six-pointers on the horizon against Swansea City, Hull City and Burnley in the next four weeks.