CHRIS Waddle is threatening a shake-up for Burnley's home game against Northampton Town on Saturday as he tries to drag the Turf Moor club out of the depths of despair following Tuesday's FA Cup shocker.
And that could mean a recall to the starting line-up for Gerry Harrison and Mark Ford as the player-manager demands 11 "brave" men on the field to start transforming the club's fortunes.
Waddle hinted that the duo would get their chance but his main concern is the attitude of the whole team after a run of three successive defeats in the League and the cup crash against Rotherham.
Burnley's recent performances, notably in the second half at Grimsby and then in the cup tie, have been unacceptable and he demanded that the players take responsibility for their performances. The manager admits he is limited in what he can do about the situation, particularly as he has been unable to bring in new players recently.
"Everybody knows the Gerry Creaney situation and we don't have a big squad," he said. "But we have to have 11 players out there on Saturday totally focused on winning the game.
"We know how the crowd will react if things are not going right and the 11 out there have to be brave.
"If they just want to lie down then everybody will get slaughtered and Northampton will have an easy afternoon.
"It was a cup tie on Tuesday with a big prize at stake but they didn't seem to have the desire.
"Maybe we have a shortage of leaders.
"We have some big strong guys and they shouldn't be frightened to upset each other. I don't mean that in a nasty way but it shouldn't have to be down to me and Glenn Roeder 99 per cent of the time.
"They have to take some responsibility. They all get well paid for what they do and good luck to them. But they have to do it on the field.
"It's easy in training but on matchdays there's a crowd and players who can't handle crowds are not going to go very far in the game.
"There are some things you just cannot put into players."
Waddle admitted he couldn't make too many changes, even if he wanted to, because his options were limited.
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