CHRIS LAKEY Jon Otsemobor says players are beginning to suffer mentally because of the Canaries' dreadful run of form.

CHRIS LAKEY

Jon Otsemobor says players are beginning to suffer mentally because of the Canaries' dreadful run of form.

The City full-back has played more minutes than any other outfield player this season, and admits the battle against the drop is getting more and more difficult.

The 2-0 defeat at West Brom on Saturday was City's seventh in eight Championship games, and simply confirmed what QPR's win at Charlton in the early kick-off had started - City were rock bottom.

“It was not just a tough afternoon, it has been a tough month or even more for the lads now, so it is starting to dwell on us a bit, you saw that in the first half performance,” said Otsemobor.

“To be fair, yes, personally for me it is affecting me in a big way because we should be doing better than we are and as we go on and keep losing and not playing well it is affecting all the players.”

The mood going into the game wasn't helped by City's predicament or the quality of their opponents, but Otsemobor said no one was aware that QPR had consigned them to the bottom of the table.

“To be fair we found out after the game,” he said. “We found out after the game, which makes it even more disappointing.”

Otsemobor insists everything is all right - until kick-off.

“A coupe of weeks ago is said to someone, if you come and watched us train Monday to Friday you'd wonder how we get beat or how we could play so poorly come the Saturday,” he said. “Come Saturday everything seems to fall apart and we can't put our finger on why we are doing so badly at the moment.”

Otsemobor's was one of former manager Peter Grant's big summer targets, and admits it's the players who have created the space in the managerial hot seat.

“Obviously not having a manager it is a worry, but once the lads go on the pitch regardless of who is in charge, once you cross over the white line there is not much a manager can do whether he's there or not, it is down to the players,” he said.

“We haven't been pulling our weight, each and every one of us over the past month or so - that is why where we are in the league and that is why we haven't got a manager.”