Read Malick Thiaw's first Leadership Group message ahea...

We have a good Leadership Group, with Dan Burn and Joelinton as our captain and vice-captain. They are great leaders, really demanding and vocal, and they are great human beings and great players too. They are the spine of our team and are always trying to influence the squad in a positive way.

I have worn the armband a few times now, and each time is a huge honour. I try to be as honest as possible with everyone and try to ensure standards are top while also being vocal in the dressing room. The players know I’m here for everyone – if they need something and might not want to talk with somebody else, they can come to me, whether that’s about football or anything else.

We were all feeling a big, big disappointment after Monday night’s result at Coventry, especially in the first hours and the day after the match. But in life you have to keep going. Of course, you shouldn’t neglect what happened; you have to analyse and maybe even be angry – or get the right feeling from these kind of games, where you need to put it right.

This week, I feel like we’re all on the same page. There have been no arguments or heads going down. We have to learn these moments as a team, and we don’t have too much time until the next game. We have to learn and adapt the things quickly that we spoke about.

Read our exclusive interview with Mercury Prize hopefuls - Knats - online and in Saturday's edition of UNITED.

We know that there are always improvements we can make as a team, and not everything is going to be perfect from the first day. Everybody has to be patient as well. But I think the messages from the coach are clear. I would say our team is really a team that follows, so we follow the gaffer 100 per cent.

We also know that we are a good team, a quality team, and a young team too. We have so much potential. It’s about being at our best in every single game and not having too many setbacks like we have in the last two away games. The potential is definitely there to have a good season.

And we have the opportunity to show that unity today against a good opponent who had a great season last time and got a big result this week.

We hope to earn the support of the fans today. When the stadium is ‘on’, it always helps us to perform and you are always like another man for us on the field – we feel like we have one more player with you behind us.

Howay the Lads!

Make sure to pick up your copy of the official matchday programme, UNITED, this weekend, featuring: