JACOB Mellis has admitted Barnsley's players let David Flitcroft down and has backed Micky Mellon to replace him.
Mellis, 22, scored his first goal of the season with a tremendous strike in last week's 2-1 win at Brighton.
He said: "We take responsibility for what happened to the manager. We're the ones who are playing on the pitch.
"The gaffer put everything into the job and we were down and sad that he left. We've been unlucky at times this season but we definitely let him down with our performances."
Asked if he wanted Mellon to get the job, Mellis added: "It's not down to me but I would like Micky to be the manager. If we keep performing like we did against Brighton he's got a great chance.
"He knows us and he knows out strengths and weaknesses. We know we're in a tough position but we're good enough to do something about it."
The ex-Chelsea man's Brighton goal was a tremendous individual effort which was similar to Paddy McCourt's magnificent opener as they both featured fine individual runs and exchanges of passes with Marcus Tudgay.
Mellis, who played in his preferred position behind the strikers instead of on the left wing, said: "Paddy's inspiring me. When I see him do crazy stuff like that it's breathtaking. I tried to copy him.
"Hopefully that's the first of many because I have missed a few chances recently. Micky came to me before the match and told me to play with confidence and get on the ball."
