David Wetherall today confessed: Our fans were right to have a go at Blackpool.

The City skipper admitted the team were stung by some of the abuse dished out in Saturday's 4-1 drubbing.

A section of the travelling support turned on the players as they crashed to a third defeat in four games and, though hurt by some of the comments, Wetherall could understand their strength of feeling.

He reckons it will act as a spur as City try to bounce back from their mini-slump.

"It's not nice to hear some of the chants that were said but the fans have paid their money and made the trip and they have the right to voice their opinions," said Wetherall.

"It was a great turn-out from our supporters and they were obviously bitterly disappointed the way the result went for us. They voiced their frustration, which is understandable.

"But it's up to us now to go out there and show that some of the accusations thrown at the players are not right.

"You've got to deal with setbacks in football because it's not always going to be a bed of roses. You will have bad results and have to deal with those.

"It's time for people to show some character now and everybody has to work their socks off to make sure there is the right response."

Colin Todd gave the players a grilling after training yesterday as City look to arrest a poor run that has seen them pick up only one point from the last 12.

A tough week on the training ground is in store ahead of next weekend's clash with Brighton at Valley Parade.

Wetherall admitted: "It's been a very poor month for us and you can't hide away from that.

"But it's no good everybody getting down and feeling sorry for themselves. That's not going to win the next game and that's the only thing we can focus on now.

"We can't change what happened at Blackpool. We have to learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again.

"I wish we could have played again the following day to get that result out the system but I'm sure the manager will have words this week about how he wants to move forward from here.

"This week gives us the chance to put a few things right and sort out what went wrong. Confidence will never be sky high when you've got beaten 4-1 and been on a bad run but the only way to get out of that is through sheer hard work.

"When we go out there against Brighton on Saturday, we have to make sure our chests are out and chins are up. It is time to show a strong character."