Republic of Ireland captain Kenny Cunningham has told his Birmingham City teammates they risked an immediate return to Division One unless they grew up.
The 31-year-old was part of the Wimbledon side that lost out in the 1999-2000 season and he urged his fellow players to start putting things right in the daunting home match with Manchester United tonight.
Cunningham admitted to his under-par performance in the 4-2 defeat by fellow strugglers Bolton on Saturday. The defeat left Birmingham just two points above fourth-from-bottom Bolton and six ahead of third-from-bottom West Brom, although they do have a game in hand.
After United's visit, Birmingham face back-to-form Liverpool and Chelsea followed by the Birmingham derby with Aston Villa.
Birmingham manager Steve Bruce, who has seen his side fail to win in their last seven Premiership matches and have just one victory in their last 11 matches in all competitions, had spoken of his fury at the lack of defending in the Bolton fiasco.
"Saturday's game was so important for us, had we won we would have been eight points clear of Bolton with a bit of breathing space," Cunningham told the Birmingham Evening Mail.
"Instead the gap is only two points and they've got a huge lift from the result. We have to face up to the fact that we are in a relegation battle, no doubt. We've got to be big enough and brave enough to stand up to it and get ourselves out of trouble," added Cunningham.