Boss Matt Taylor on the mounting job pressure after Rotherham United derby-day events last weekend

The Millers went down with little fight at the home of the Championship's bottom club last Sunday and are five points adrift of safety themselves, in 22nd, spot, because of their sorry away record.

Taylor led the club to second-tier survival last term but some supporters are now questioning whether he can do it for a second time.

“You lose a game of that magnitude in that manner and then the pressure is going to come more than it was previously,” he said.

“I still believe in the job, I still work harder than anyone else in the game. This group of players can still achieve what I expect them to.”

The boss - whose injury-hit team are at home to another team in the drop zone, Queens Park Rangers, on Saturday - says his desire to succeed affects him more than any outside noise.

“There’s pressure from elsewhere, which is never going to change in a football manager’s life,” he said. “The biggest pressure is my own pressure on myself.

“That's where I was most disappointed last weekend because that wasn’t what I expect. That wasn’t me, that wasn’t a team I’m associated with.

“It’s still very much a united group, but there is a fragile nature about the way we feel right now because that was a real hammer blow. As the manager, I cannot hide away from that fact.

“The pressure will continue to mount unless we win games of football.”

Taylor called on supporters to get behind the team and reserve any flak for him. "Let’s be honest, I deserve all the criticism I get on the back of Sunday because it was nowhere near the levels I expect,” he said.

“I’d rather they give me stick than the players. What Sunday showed is that we’re quite fragile as a group. When the stronger ones amongst us aren’t able to get to the levels they can get to, then this group needs help.

“I’ll always try and help them. If that means taking responsibility I’ll take it all day long.”

Asked if he wanted to say anything to fans questioning his position, he responded: "There’s no message for supporters or for anyone else.

“I don’t change. The players need everyone’s support, that’s my biggest point.”