Whenever a club is going through a horrendous run of form, it's often expected that the captain will issue a rallying call in order to get his teammates firing. Micah Richards though, doesn't believe he has to do so.
The Aston Villa captain is currently leading a team stranded in the relegation zone, more than three points adrift of safety with just eight games played in the Premier League.
Having not won a game since the opening day, the Villans are desperately in need of a wake up call, but the captain believes that the players can deliver it to themselves.
The players are fully driven...
Explaining that his colleagues have "desire in abundance" to turn things around, he assured fans that he "can't fault the attitude" that they're putting into training during this difficult spell.
Richards is "confident" that his team will start picking up points soon enough, which will come as good news to manager Tim Sherwood, who is dreading the sack after reports suggested that an ultimatum had been placed on him by the board, in regards to the next two games.
The topic as to why Villa are performing so poorly has been one that's attracted great debate. The skipper however, doesn't think they've been playing badly in the most part, simply conceding from "costly mistakes", and once they cut those out things can get better.
...But he must keep heads up
Following seasons of glory with Manchester City and a high flying spell in Italy with Fiorentina, all of this doom and gloom may have come as something of a culture shock for Richards.
He did though, take some responsibility in his role as captain, stating that it was his job to ensure that "the boys are staying positive", so that they can go out and play their best football.
They'll certainly need a positive frame of mind in order to go to Stamford Bridge and beat Chelsea on Sunday, in a fixture which is notorious for goals.
Richards is up for the affair, stating that if Villa "carry on doing the right things", they won't have to wait long to see "greater rewards" for their efforts.