LEON Holden has this week admitted that the mental toughness that was for so long Wasps’ hallmark has been totally eroded.

Under Lawrence Dallaglio, the black and golds walked with an aura that they and everyone else believed in.

It won them matches and when the big teams scratched Wasps they found only granite beneath the surface.

That’s gone though. The psyche is softer and Holden concedes that Wasps lose the faith at the first sign of adversity.

He said: “That’s dead right. We’ve worked hard the last two or three weeks to address that, but it’s still there. It’s not something that we can fix in five seconds. It’s going to take a long, long time.

“With any sport, once you get into that rut...we’ve lost key players in the last 18 months, two years, had injuries to key players, a huge factor is not having Phil Vickery and Tom Rees around. They’re leaders. That’s a factor, isn’t it?”

Leadership is a major issue at the club.

Club captain Rees has been injured for most of the season and in a bid to fill the void the armband has been passed around like cake at a wedding.

Joe Ward, Ben Jacobs, Serge Betsen, Richard Birkett, Rees, Vickery and Rob Webber have all had a go and the carousal continues on Sunday.

Holden said: “I’m very conscious there has been five or six captains this season, and there’s going to be a different one this weekend.”

Finding a totem figure appears paramount and Wasps’ attempts to lure Martyn Williams to Wycombe suggests they appreciate that.

But Holden insists not.

He said: “We’re not going out there for short-term fixes and we’re not really looking specifically for leaders.

“We’ve got guys who are just about at that stage of being dominant senior players and we’ve got a recruitment structure planned out for the next five years.

“We want an English international in the front row, in the middle row and the back row – a solid spine.”

So the period of transition is set to continue, and Holden has asked fans to stay patient and bite the bullet until the circle turns again.

He said: “In any sporting franchise, there are always going to be rough patches.”

That said, Wasps will do what they can to ease the pain. Josh Lewsey’s arrival last week could trigger one or two more short-term deals.

Director Mark Rigby said: “We have to go back to the drawing board in terms of the squad and trying to find additional resources between now and the end of the season.

“There are injury allowances under the wage cap to bring people in.”