DAVID Hopkin wants to ditch the negativity after back-to-back losses dropped City back into the relegation mire.

Saturday’s 4-0 home defeat against Southend came as a nasty shock to the system following the recent revival.

But Hopkin insists the “wake-up call” should remind everyone about the fierce battle ahead to stay in League One – and is urging them not to get too down-hearted.

He said: “When you’ve been on a run like we have and won four games, people think that it’s never going to end.

“Everyone’s saying we’re going to shoot up the league but that’s not going to happen.

“Other teams now know we can play and will respect that. But it does mean that every game is going to get tougher now.

“We know it’s going to a long run. I told the fans when I came in that it’s going to be right through to May.

“It’s going to be that way and we’ve got to make sure we stick together and try to get away from where we are in the league.

“We’ve got to stay positive and get back to doing what we were when we were winning games. It’s making sure we get back on it.

“Nobody likes losing, especially at home because our form at Valley Parade has been good.

“But maybe there was a wee bit of complacency and then a good finish early on and we just struggled through the game. That’s not normally like us.

“Saturday was a wake-up call but we knew it wouldn’t change overnight.”

City are trying to add to their options before they go to Burton on Saturday. But Hopkin also expects to see better game management from his side after they failed to recover from Southend’s second-minute opener.

He added: “Everybody is fighting for points and we must make sure we stand up and be counted.

“That was probably the thing that annoyed me most about Saturday. We didn’t show any fight.

“Players have got to take responsibility. We have to manage the game better.

“We can talk about tactics or team shape. All people want to focus on now is the negativity of somebody not playing here, not playing there but it’s a team game.

“Every player needs to make sure they know their jobs.

“They get so much information from myself, Anton (McElhone), Martin (Drury) and Rob (Bloodworth) the analyst. Everything is in place.

“But sometimes when you concede so early, your game-plan goes out to the window. You have to react to the situation better and settle the game down.”

Southend changed their approach and caught City on the hop by scoring so quickly. But Hopkin feels his players have to be able to think on their feet.

“The players are coached every week for the different scenarios,” he added.

“They have been coached when to go long, when not to go long and when to play.

“Sometimes players have to take a wee bit of responsibility in a game.

“You’ve got to give credit to Southend. They changed their style and came with a different tactic.

“They knew we were probably going to play a high press.

“Every time they got the ball, they went long and missed out both sets of midfield.

“We never got going. Whenever we got the ball at the back, their two strikers harassed our back four and ultimately they had to go long.

“Nobody told them to do it but when you’re under pressure and players so tightly marked, it's common that everyone’s going to try and play a ball that keeps it far away from your goal.”