KENWYNE Jones admits Stoke City must overcome a sense of anxiety which has crept into the dressing room to get their season back on track after the side's latest setback at the hands of Queens Park Rangers.
Goals from Republic of Ireland international Jonathan Walters and skipper Ryan Shawcross proved to be in vain as a Heidar Helguson brace and a strike from full back Luke Young secured QPR all three points.
Trinidad and Tobago striker Jones, who featured in the game as a second half substitute as the Potters tried to salvage at least a point, believes the side were worthy of at least a share of the spoils from the clash, but says he is worried about the recent run of results.
"I can stand here and say we should have got a point, or even won the game, but that means absolutely nothing on the back of a 3-2 defeat," he told stokecityfc.com.
"For one reason or another, things aren't going for us at all at the moment and that is obviously a big worry for us. We have more or less given them the win by conceding three goals again, and it is very unusual for us to be conceding the amount of goals that we are at present.
"We have to get that sorted before anything else and we have to change things sooner rather than later if we are to get our season back on track after such a promising start."
He added: "This place has been a fortress for us over the years and we have got to get it back that way. The fans played their part but again we didn't do our bit."
Struggling Blackburn Rovers are next up at the Britannia Stadium next weekend fresh from their dramatic 3-3 draw with Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium, and Jones believes that the fixture is now the side's biggest of the season so far.
"It's a big game for us," he added. "It was always going to be a tough game, but given this result, it now makes it even more important for us.
"The next game is always your biggest game and like I said before we have got to come out next week and improve on today. We showed character to come back into the game, but it was too little too late at the end of the day.
"We will have to look at what has gone wrong again, but we also have to look forward and not dwell on what has happened today."