New boss Alex Neil insists Sunderland is not a 'damaged animal' despite the club's recent slump in form - and says it is up to him to revive the Black Cats' flagging season.
Neil was appointed head coach a week ago, and after drawing his first game at AFC Wimbledon last weekend he is now preparing for his first home game in charge against MK Dons tomorrow.
Upon arrival, he took over a Sunderland side that had won just one of its last seven games, and that was on the back of three disastrous defeats - the 6-0 humiliation at Bolton that precipitated the sacking of Lee Johnson, followed by a home reverse against then-basement side Doncaster Rovers, and then a defeat against strugglers Cheltenham.
Yet Neil says he did not find a demoralised dressing room, adding: "I didn't see anything that alarmed me.
"In terms of the attitude and appetite of the players, that has been very good.
"They don't seem down in any way, shape, or form.
"We've had a lot of one-to-ones and quite a few collective meetings, and they seem fine.
"I'm not trying to delve into too many psychological issues.
"We're not a damaged animal, we have just a blip in form and we need to get back on track.
"As we know in football, if you win your next game then everything looks a hell of a lot rosier after that so that's what we need to focus on.
"There's been a lot to do and it's tough when you've got a tight timescale in terms of games left, and you have to come in and turn form around.
"It's been a busy week for us and we've put a lot of information into the players.
"I've found their attitude and appetite to be overwhelmingly positive.
"There have been no negatives other than the fact that we have got some players missing, and their experience could certainly have helped us."
Neil has immediately identified key areas that he wants to improve in his quest to turn around Sunderland's fortunes.
He said: "We want to move the ball quickly - I don't like laboured build-up, but equally we don't just want to go back-to-front.
"We need to try to get into more dangerous positions, more quickly, in the final third and put more crosses into the box, we need to be more aggressive in terms of first positions, and all that kind of stuff has been the focus in this first week.
"I try to keep the messages simple, I've looked at all the stats, and we need to get the fundamentals right.
"We need to run more, we need to tackle more, we need to get the ball forward more, we need to pick up more second balls, and if we can more of the fundamentals right, the detail then can make the difference.
"What we have got is some talented players who have got quality if we get them into certain areas of the pitch - we just need to get them there more often.
"We've been sharing our time between doing work out on the training pitch and in the video room, trying to get as much content into them as we can because you can only do so much on the training pitch without a physical drop-off, and we have three games next week.
"We've worked them hard this week but within reason to make sure they don't die a death come Saturday."
As with any manager or head coach, Neil wants his team to play his style of football.
But he is wary of getting 'bogged down' by talk of footballing philosophies.
"There'll be a certain style that you'll see," he said.
"Once you're in the building and you get people working, you should be able to watch a game in black and white and be able to pick out which is your team.
"I'm hoping we can get to that stage really quite quickly.
"We have to try to find a way to win, but if it isn't working then we need to be even more aggressive to force the issue.
"But I don't want to get too bogged down in talking about philosophies.
"When you think about philosophy, people start thinking about Man City and they play the way they play because they have a squad worth about a billion pounds and they can all put the ball wherever they like at any moment.
"Everybody else who is not so lucky has to work to some sort of structure and try to get their best players in the best positions."
Neil has brought in his former Hamilton Academical teammate Martin Canning as assistant head coach, but says he has no plans to make further changes to the backroom staff at present.
He said: "It's not been a discussion point. I've got very limited time until the end of the season.
"Everywhere I've been , I've inherited the staff that have already been there and I've built good relationships.
"I'm not someone who comes in like a bulldozer and starts taking this away and that away.
"My mindset is that we all need to work together, and anyone that doesn't work together then of course there will be changes made.
"I've not felt any opposition since I walked into the building, everyone has been overly-helpful and is trying to assist us to win matches."
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