Nottingham Forest need players who can embrace the club’s proud history - and have the mental strength to write their own chapter in it.
The Reds are currently allowing their season to end with a whimper, as a third successive defeat finally killed off any hopes they might have had of securing a top six finish.
Forest created numerous chances against Blackburn, but saw a crippling lack of cutting edge cost them dearly, as they managed only one shot on target from 22 attempts on goal.
While their lack of decisiveness at one end of the pitch was exacerbated by moments of defensive fragility at the other, as Tony Mowbray’s side continued to address their own recent poor run of form, with a hard earned victory at the City Ground.
It was a performance and result that saw Forest booed off the pitch by their frustrated fans.
O’Neill says Forest will need players with the character to deal with the weight of expectation, if they are to flourish next season.
And he wants players who can embrace the club’s proud past - and deliver more success in future.
“I think any side that is looking for a bit of success needs this. You might not have the best players, but if you have a group of players with a really strong mentality, that is important,” he said.
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“It is quite decisive, in fact. This is important.
“I wonder about the young players coming in today - and I am making a general point - and I wonder if they know the history of the club they are playing for.
“History is fine. I would think that players should know the history of the club they are playing for and I think they should carve their own niche, too.
“Not every single club will win the League and the European Cup, a couple of times.
“But it is important and I think young players should know the history of things and should be wanting here, as a professional player, to improve themselves.
“All of those ambitions should be with you, as a player. They certainly were a way back and they should be now, even in the modern day.”
O’Neill said that he understood fans’ frustrations at the final whistle.
But he felt that his side did have the courage to try to make things happen.
“I am not so sure that it will be the first time over the last 20 years that the side has been booed off the pitch,” he said.
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“There were a few boos, but I think in terms of creating and trying to make things happen… let’s look at young Appiah for instance. He has made his home debut and he did fine in little patches.
“He had one little run that was great and he delivered the ball for Sam Byram to cross, for Cashy’s header. He should have scored that, really. He thinks he should have scored, anyway.
“We have some talent here that we can work with and that is what we intend to do.”
It was the first time Forest have lost three games in a row since last April - and the first time O’Neill has lost three games in a row as a manager in the Football League, since his time at Wycombe.
“It has been a long, long time. A long time. It is disappointing,” said O’Neill, when asked to reflect on the recent run.
“We should have won the game; we created enough chances to have won it.
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“We were suspect at the back, when they had a corner kick. We half clear it and their player delivers a really good goal, from their viewpoint - but it should have been stopped.
“It is a long time and we have to steady the ship and put things right.”
O’Neill felt the failure to convert good chances was their biggest shortfalling in the game.
“Lewis took an age to shoot after Pele had closed their player down and won the ball close to their goal,” he said. “Lewis never got the shot off, which was disappointing.
“We were piling forward at the end of the game, trying to get an equaliser. We did a couple of daft things as well, during the course of that.
“But hopefully the players can learn, at some stage.”
