Brad Guzan has told ESPN that his struggling Aston Villa side dare not show any sign that they are "willing to surrender" as they attempt to scramble away from the relegation zone at the bottom of the Premier League.
In an exclusive interview with this website, Guzan has sounded a rallying cry to Villa after a season that has seen them score just 11 goals in their opening 22 Premier League games, with the club's supporters joining the media in sparking suggestions of a crisis at Villa Park.
Yet Guzan insists the mood behind the scenes at the club is very different from the turbulence that is being portrayed on the outside, with the American keeper doing his best to offer up a positive view of a troubled time for Paul Lambert and his team.
"We have to keep fighting and cannot let teams believe we are willing to surrender every week," began Guzan. "The mood in our camp tells me that we are ready to do that and there is a real determination for us to fight back and get the results we need.
"The media like to portray a situation like this as a crisis, but the atmosphere behind the scenes is much more upbeat. Despite all the negativity, we are positive about the next few months and what the future holds for this team.
"Okay, we are not getting the kind of results we want and the goals are not coming for us, but we feel like we are doing a lot of good things and it just needs one win, even one big goal, to turn everything round.
"It is not a lack of quality or a lack of confidence that is the problem, believe me. We all have faith in the abilities of this team and despite the lack of wins, we are not lacking in self-belief. That is certainly how I see it anyway and there is no need for us to panic at this stage.
"We have 16 games left to play and that is a hell of a lot of points to aim for. Two wins in this Premier League would fire us up to a mid-table position and that would end the talk of a crisis in an instant. And we believe we have the quality and the desire to make that happen."
Villa have taken just three points from their last seven games -- all winless -- in the Premier League and have scored just one goal during that woeful run, with the lack of firepower putting additional pressure on Guzan and his defensive unit.
"When you are part of a team that is not scoring goals at the rate you would want, then there is an additional expectation for the defenders to make sure they are performing and the guys in front of me have been fantastic all season," added Guzan.
"We have not had the best of luck with injuries to key players and that has been a problem throughout the team, especially in the defensive positions, but we have a great spirit among the guys at the back.
"It is frustrating that we have not managed to get the results we would have wanted this season because we had a fast start and we have not quite managed to build on that, but there is plenty of time for us to get back on track now."