Brentford midfielder Sam Saunders believes Bees fans need to see the bigger picture given the negativity around Griffin Park over the course of the season.
A section of supporters have been left frustrated after watching the club go from being in the play-offs last season to a mid-table outfit.
But Saunders, who is the club’s longest serving player having joined in 2009 after the club's promotion to League One, believes the fans need to remember where Brentford have come from over the past few seasons.
He said: “We’re still mid-table in the Championship. There’s a lot of negative things flying around. A lot of teams would snap their hands off to be where we are.
“It’s frustrating for the lads as I think the expectation levels were probably unrealistic compared to what happened with a lot of the squad and we overachieved last year.
“We’re still mid-table in the Championship. A lot of players have been sold and the club has made a profit.
“The players here are gaining the experience needed to become the players the club signed.
“You’ve got to give these players chances to make mistakes as that’s the only way they’re going to learn. Us looking safe is the ideal opportunity for it.”
Brentford fans are also having to adjust to the prospect of a quiet end to the season, having been pushing for promotion in each of the last four campaigns.
And Saunders believes the remaining weeks will be part of a learning curve for the less experienced players in the squad.
He added: “We’ve got to look to get as many points as we can and build experience in a young squad in games like this and tough battles.
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“Rotherham isn’t a typical Championship game and the boys have got to learn from these experiences for next year.
“Every team will try and strengthen in the summer and enabling the young players to play, progress and better themselves will only make us stronger for next year.
“A lot of the doom and gloom flying around is frustrating because if you’d said two years ago that we’d be mid-table in the Championship the fans would have have bitten their hand off.
“Let’s get back to realism. We’ve got a young squad that are learning all the time. We didn’t play well at Rotherham but the boys are going to learn from that.”
Brentford have an opportunity to bounce back from their defeat at the New York Stadium against bottom side Charlton on Saturday.
Saunders added: “They need to win the game as they’re on 25 points. They need to get some results but if we play our game plan and score early we can win the game. Confidence will be low there.”
