Neal Ardley says Notts County must not give up despite their position in Sky Bet League Two.
His side were beaten 2-0 at Yeovil on Saturday with Tom James and Alex Dobre getting the goals.
And with the Magpies now six points adrift at the bottom of the league, Ardley says Notts must continue to believe.
“We can’t give up,” said the boss. “I can’t, and the players can’t either.
“It’s a perilous situation but teams have done it before and we have to believe that we can.
“The lads are feeling the pressure of what has happened so far this season but I’ve told them they need to stand up, take the criticism and keep striving to do your best.
“We have to keep fighting. We have 17 games remaining and we need to win eight of them which I believe is still doable.”
As he was after last week’s defeat to Cambridge, Ardley was frustrated by Notts’ sloppiness at either end of the pitch.
“For 90% of the game we were the better team but we cost ourselves again,” he said.
“I keep saying the same things – what we did between the boxes was great but the fine margins at either end are what matter.
“We worked on set pieces for 45 minutes in training on Friday but let ourselves down inside eight when we lost a man at the front post and went behind.
“Then we didn’t take our chances to bring the match level and those moments are what matter so I understand the frustrations.
“We’ve made the team more competitive but we need to turn performances into results and we need a win to lift us.”