Brian Noble has urged fans not to panic and start laying into the Wayne Bennett and his Great Britain stars.
The Lions have lost their opening two tour games to Tonga and New Zealand, dishing up some dull rugby along the way.
But former Great Britain coach Noble is convinced they can turn it around in the return Test against the Kiwis in Christchurch on Saturday.
He said: “To be honest, the game against New Zealand wasn’t a great advert for the game particularly that first half. But that was more to do with the referee than the players and when both teams played more expansively in the second half it was a better spectacle.
“I just wish people would put it into perspective because when you are travelling to the southern hemisphere it becomes hard.
“It is a fine line between winning and losing as we have seen. But if we win our last two games then I think it will have been reasonably successful.”
Great Britain lost 12-8 to the Kiwis, on the back of a surprise 14-6 defeat to Tonga in Hamilton. That shock opening result didn’t look as bad after Tonga claimed an historic win over world champions Australia on Saturday.
Noble added: “I want fans to appreciate that this Tonga team are fighting for a top two spot because they have knocked off New Zealand, Great Britain and Australia now. Tonga have a world class team and we were a bit rusty and clunky against them but we could still have come away with a win.
“The Kiwi game was disappointing but we looked a whole lot better in the last 20 minutes and I hope we play that way this Saturday.”
England referee Chris Kendall has been criticised for the way he’s controlled both tour games and the Lions are understood to want a new referee this Saturday.
Bennett will also need to find a new line-up after winger Ryan Hall dislocated his knee, leaving him with only one specialist winger. Oliver Gildart, the only specialist centre in the 24-man squad, flies home for shoulder surgery tomorrow.
Fans, meanwhile, are puzzled as to why there are six half-backs in the squad but a shortage of genuine three-quarters.
Noble added: “If we had taken only three halves and one got busted we would have been throwing hand grenades for not picking more. Of course you can ask questions but no plan really survives the enemy and you can’t predict injuries.
“We didn’t have all our best players available for the tour and now we’ve got more injuries so it’s not ideal but it’s a learning process. We may need to use all 24 players in the squad.”
