Cardiff City will afford Mick McCarthy the Fulham and Middlesbrough fixtures this week as the manager scraps to save his job amid mounting calls for him to be axed.
The Bluebirds are plummeting down the Championship table and currently sit 20th, with Sunday's defeat by Swansea City representing Cardiff's sixth loss in a row. It is their worst run since Alan Durban was in charge in November 1985.
It has led to Cardiff fans calling for immediate change in the dugout, with the Bluebirds having lost eight of their last nine matches in all competitions and having scored just one goal in their last six games.
However, Wales Online has learned that Cardiff's hierarchy held a board meeting on Monday during which it was decided that McCarthy would be given this week's matches before any call over the manager's future is made.
The upshot, it appears, is that McCarthy has two matches to save his job and needs to start winning again with immediate effect to convince Cardiff owner Vincent Tan he is the right man moving forward.
Two more miserable defeats or no sign of any marked improvement will only heap insurmountable pressure on the manager and, in turn, the board.
McCarthy, who has been in professional football now for 44 years, understands the situation and knows that anything other than a drastic improvement in results and performances will likely only lead to his exit.
Indeed, ahead of Sunday's South Wales derby, McCarthy said: "I’ve only had support from the top.
"When that question is asked, it’s always about the job. That's the meaning behind it.
"I fully understand that if you lose games then you lose your job. OK, but that’s not what creates the pressure for me. What creates the pressure is the game against Swansea, to try and win it.
"There's nothing I can do about [the decision over my future], all I can do is keep trying to win games.
"I'm under pressure to get a performance and a result. If we do, that will be brilliant. If we don't, I fully understand the rules of the game."
Having said that, his side turned out an utterly toothless performance against Swansea and surrendered in a 3-0 win.
The insipid football and infuriating tactics have stirred ire among the vast majority of the fan base – our own fan columnist Scott Johnson also voiced his concerns in his own hard-hitting article this week.
For many supporters, McCarthy's job is now untenable unless something remarkable happens in the lead-up to Christmas akin to the manager's first 11 games in charge at the start of the year.
Up next, however, are high-flying Fulham, who sit third in the table and have assembled one of the best squads in the league.
After that, of course, is Neil Warnock and his Middlesbrough side and the ex-Bluebirds boss will no doubt be desperate to get one over on his old side.
But McCarthy, it seems, will indeed be given the opportunity to prove he can turn around this quickly sinking ship.
In short, the two biggest games of his Cardiff managerial career are coming up in the next four days.
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