CHRIS Eagles insists Wanderers ’ players remain fully behind under-pressure boss Owen Coyle.

A third successive away defeat against Birmingham City left the Whites well behind schedule in 15th place in the Championship.

It also undoubtedly ramped up the appetite for change at the top among the club’s fans.

Coyle remained defiant in his ability to turn things round after the result at St Andrew’s on Tuesday night, and Eagles has also moved to defend the man who signed him last summer from his old club Burnley.

The winger – who has scored four goals in the Whites’ first six games – has rubbished rumours of a dressing room rift, claiming the mood within the camp is more harmonious than would seem to be the case on the terraces.

“It’s difficult for managers at a time like this because they have the responsibility,” he said. “But we are a team, whether the fans stick with us or not.

“If we get two or three wins on the bounce and we are in top two or three. Everyone forgets about this loss then.”

Wanderers went into the season knowing promotion was the minimum expectation, and both Coyle and chairman Phil Gartside have stated publicly that a two-point-per-game average would be the requirement they were looking for.

They currently have seven points from six games, but Eagles remains convinced that the team will soon be competing at the top end of the table.

“With this league there are so many games,” he said. “It is a very long season.

“People look at a loss and worry. But it's nothing like that. Two wins and you are in the top four. That's what you have got to remember. It is nuts.

“Christmas time is important. That's a period when everyone gets tired. It would be lovely to be in the top two but I have been in this position before with Watford and Burnley. And we have come from this position.

“People don't always look. They always concentrate on the teams above them. Then the teams below them leapfrog them. You saw that with Reading last season.”

Wanderers head to Sheffield Wednesday this weekend, with Dave Jones’s side level on points, albeit with a game in hand.

One of the criticisms levelled at the side recently is that the team have under-estimated the challenge posed by the Championship after relegation.

But Eagles spiked at the suggestion that Wanderers had failed to adjust to a different brand of football.

“It annoys me when people say there are easy games,” he said. “There aren't any and you can't disrespect anyone.

“It's down to who is the better team on the day and whose tactics are right. People don't understand when they say it's an easy team. We played pre-season games against lower league opposition and look how well they played.

“We are confident in every game we play. I expected to win at Birmingham and we came away losing.”

Eagles’ sublime free-kick at Birmingham levelled the scores on Tuesday night, and the midfielder believes a point was the least the Whites deserved.

“I think some of the players are thinking you have to win. And that's not the case,” he said.

“If you pick up an average of two points a game in this lead then you will get automatic promotion. That's what you have got to aim for.”