Salford boss Karl Robinson admits his squad have been hit hard by a disastrous February which has seen them fall out of the League Two play-off places.
The Ammies’ promotion push had stalled badly with the latest loss a 2-1 home reverse against Shrewsbury on Tuesday evening.
Morale has suffered after five successive defeats in all competitions and Robinson says the players need a reboot.
“They are a bit low,” Robinson told Radio Manchester. “People may see that as a weakness but I see it as a positive. This hurts them. I’ve just looked them in the eyes and they are on the floor.
“But this is why I am here. I am here to galvanise, to gee up and to move us forward and I can do that.
“I’ve gone through worse moments than this. The one thing time in this industry gives you is the knowledge that nothing comes easy.
“Everything you do comes at a cost and we are just going to have to work harder and harder and harder.”
Robinson, who passed 800 EFL games as a manager earlier this season, takes his side to Colchester on Saturday confident he can engineer a turnaround.
“Every team goes through horrific moments. You have to go through them. That’s why winning is so amazing because you have to go through difficult moments,” he added.
“I’ve got a team of lads who truly care. I’ve got a team of lads who are incredibly talented.
“That team will turn it around. That team is good enough to go on a run of ten games. I’m 100 per cent confident of that.”