Sabri Lamouchi says Saturday is a “must-win game” as he finds himself on thin ice as Nottingham Forest head coach.
But he insists he is not worried about what the future holds, ahead of facing a Bristol City side with a perfect record in the Championship so far.
The Reds, by contrast, are without a point or a goal in their opening three league games, and were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Barnsley prior to that.
It has left Lamouchi under mounting pressure, on the back of last term’s terrible collapse which saw Forest miss out on the play-offs.
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“It is absolutely a must-win game,” the Frenchman told NottinghamshireLive.
“And that means there is pressure on all of us, me first.
“It is strange, because in this situation we are thinking to change one guy (the manager), we will resolve the whole problem.
“But I know my words. I know my job. I know where I am. And I know the game on Saturday is really, really important for all of us - me first.”
Asked if he was worried about his position, Lamouchi added: “No, absolutely not. I never worry about my job, because every morning I am working with passion and giving a lot of energy because I love my players.
“I focus on my job and trying to find the best option to get out of this situation.
“I don’t worry about dying or worry about what’s happening in the world. I am lucky. I am proud to be the manager of this massive club.
“But I know the fans deserve and want the club to be successful.
“For that, it requires us all to work together - that is important.”
That wasn’t a show of arrogance from the manager, more a determination to simply focus on the task in hand.
Lamouchi knows as well as anyone, if results do not improve, there is likely to be only one fall-guy.
He hopes, though, to get the time to work with a squad which has undergone a significant overhaul this summer.
Twelve new signings have been made so far, with Olympiacos midfielder Cafu also set to join and a winger still on Lamouchi’s wanted list.
Four of those additions made their debuts last Friday at Huddersfield Town, amid seven changes to the starting XI.
The visitors still fell to another defeat, but the manager is certain he has a stronger group than that which went so close to the top six last time around.
“My feeling is clear. I don’t know what the result will be on Saturday, because we are playing the best team at the moment,” he said.
“They have a lot of momentum and are absolutely different to the Bristol City of last season.
“But the players are giving their maximum in training and they will give their maximum to win this game.
“I don’t know what the result will be, but it is really important to win this game. If not, I am still sure this squad will be where they deserve to be at the end of the season.
“In the last game we made a lot of changes and some players played together for the first time, after just one session.
“As manager, I have a lot of responsibility. I am happy with the squad. We have more quality, more balance, more experience and more character.
“But now we need to wake up and change the situation.
“Every day and every week it is bad news, bad moment, bad situation; we need to stop that and change it.
“Absolutely this squad can get to where we want to be; for sure.
“We are better at the back, in the middle and up front. We have more options, more quality and more experience.”
