Gary Rowett has told his Birmingham City players to forget about having any time off if they fail to get their season back on track.
The Blues fell to a 2-0 defeat at home to bottom side Rotherham United on the weekend to make it four games without a win in all competitions.
Birmingham have the chance to bounce back over the coming days with successive away games heading into the two-week break, but Rowett has admitted that performances must improve.
"We have got an international break coming up," he told the club's official website. "The last international breaks everyone has enjoyed the niceties of a few days off to get a bit of recovery.
"I have told the players that unless you pull your boots up Tuesday and Saturday, you are not getting any time off at all. If you drop your standards there'll be no-one more disappointed than me.
"We know we are not a side at the moment blessed with a vast array of signings and everything. So we have got to work harder than the opposition, we have got to show steel when we have a poor performance, we have got to stick together and bounce back. That has got to be a hallmark of our season."
Birmingham find themselves down in ninth place in the Championship table.
Daniel Lewis
