Draper looked on from the stands as Britain suffered relegation

Lawn Tennis Association chief Roger Draper has backed British captain John Lloyd and dismissed concerns about Davis Cup attendance and attitudes.

Questions have been raised about the GB team's mentality and empty Wimbledon seats in the wake of defeat to Austria.

Britain will learn the identity of next year's Euro/Africa zone opponents at the draw on Tuesday.

"It's easy to start firing the blame, but John's a good captain with the support of the team," Draper said.

"We had 25,000 people over the three days so it's a nonsense to say it wasn't a great atmosphere," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Estimates suggest up to 10,000 seats lay empty across the weekend as Britain suffered relegation at the hands of the Austrians.

5 Live's tennis correspondent Jonathan Overend labelled the tie a "complete fiasco from start to finish", highlighting high ticket prices and low team morale, as players and coaches appeared reluctant to back their colleagues as vociferously as in previous years.

"I remember the British team all in a line in Birmingham (in previous Davis Cup ties), banging the boards, right behind their colleagues on court. Last week there was none of that," said Overend.

It's a bit like saying Portsmouth lost 6-0 to Manchester City because the Portsmouth bench weren't cheering loud enough Tennis chief Roger Draper

Andy Murray has voiced similar concerns, demanding to know why "guys in the other matches didn't get the crowd involved" following Britain's defeat, which relegates them from the Davis Cup's World Group.

"Even if you're breaking racquets I don't care - I just want to see you're desperate to win the match," said Murray.

But Draper refused to accept that the mentality of the British team had been an issue.

"That's certainly not the case," he told 5 Live. "We lost to the better team.

"It's a bit like saying Portsmouth lost 6-0 to Manchester City because the Portsmouth bench weren't cheering loud enough.

"It's easy to start machine-gunning around the blame (but) we got relegated to the better team."

And Draper confirmed that captain John Lloyd's future was secure, as Britain return to the Davis Cup's Euro/Africa zone.

"John's done a fantastic job," said Draper. "He took some gambles over the weekend which didn't pay off.

"Jamie Murray and Ross Hutchins under-performed and they're going to have to take a long, hard look in the mirror.

"But we look forward to the draw tomorrow (Tuesday) and hopefully a good tie in May."

Tuesday's draw in Madrid will see Britain face Poland, Italy, Macedonia, South Africa or Ukraine, with the tie scheduled for 8-10 May, although it could be moved forward to March if both nations agree.

Draper also rubbished "harsh" suggestions that British tennis had failed to market itself properly to supporters, as empty seats were masked by giant union jack flags on the final day of the tie.

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"We did offer over 800 schools free tickets for the weekend, but only 16% of schools took up the offer," he told the BBC.

"On one hand we've been accused of overhyping things with singers and fireworks. When we were winning, the crowd were loud and buoyant.

"(The crowd was) probably more than any other play-off tie around the world. It's difficult to get schoolkids in at the weekend but on Friday we had 9,000 in.

"At the end of the day it's all about winning and our job is to make sure we win the tie in May, get back to the play-off next September, and get back into the World Group in February 2010."