Tony Mowbray wants Sunderland to avoid the burden of expectation in the Championship run-in - insisting his young players perform better when they are 'carefree'. With ten games of the season remaining, the Black Cats are still in the play-off race with just a five-point gap standing between themselves and the top six.
But while that has led to understandable excitement, Mowbray is trying to keep a lid on things to prevent the pressure filtering through to his team. And he says he felt the tension surrounding the last home game played its part as ex-Black Cats boss Alex Neil returned to Wearside with Stoke City and inflicted a 5-1 defeat on his former employers.
"It's easier to try and get results when you don't have that expectation," said Mowbray, whose side takes on second-placed Sheffield United at the Stadium of Light tonight. "I'm wary of talking about having young players, but they are inexperienced - and I know that can work both ways - but I'd prefer them to go out and play without the burden of thinking 'we HAVE to get a result today, we HAVE to do it'.
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"They all want to win, but I think they perform better when they are playing freely and relaxed and the tension isn't there. I felt the tension before Stoke was way too much before the game. It was built up because the former manager was coming back and you could see in the first ten minutes, I was holding my head because nobody could pass to each other because they were too uptight and too stressed.
"They need to relax and play and enjoy the football match. We're trying give players gametime and experience in the league, and I think that experience is invaluable.
"Just playing in these next ten games is enough to make these players better, the different teams, the different ways of playing, the different levels of physicality that you have to bring. But of course I understand that it's professional sport and people who support this club want it to be successful and get promoted.
"I live with this group of players and work with them every day so I feel it. Just let them play, don't burden them by saying 'we HAVE to win, we HAVE to win', because they are young and carefree so give them the confidence to accept the ball in tight areas and play one-twos and pass and run.
"If you're too worried about losing, you end up never getting out of your own half and with everybody behind the ball all the time. This team is best being on the front foot and playing aggressively and looking forward."
Sunderland were in the play-off spots until a run of four games without a win, included three successive defeats, saw them slip into midtable. But they stopped the rot with a win at play-off rivals Norwich City on Sunday, and Mowbray wants that to mark a change in the narrative.
He said: "You lose three on the bounce, you don't win in four, four becomes five, five becomes six becomes seven - it just keeps coming. You have to live with the numbers as a football coach, but generally I try to judge by the performances and I wasn't overly-disappointed with the performance level in two of the three defeats.
"So the win at the weekend just put an end to that story that we hadn't won in four. Let's hope we can win the next one and the next one and the next one and then the narrative becomes that you've won four on the bounce!"
Tonight's game sees former Sunderland defender Paul Heckingbottom bring his Blades side to town. Heckingbottom spent four years at Sunderland as a youngster but did not make a first team appearance, before leaving for Darlington in 1999 and later going on to play for clubs including Norwich, Bradford City, Sheffield Wednesday, and his hometown side Barnsley.
His managerial career started at Barnsley and included spells at Leeds United and Hibernian, and he was U23 coach at Sheffield United before stepping up to replace Chris Wilder when the latter departed by mutual consent two years ago. The Blades arrive on Wearside having won two and lost four of their last six games, but they remain in an automatic promotion place and four points ahead of third-placed Middlesbrough.
Mowbray said: "I like Paul, I think he carries a lot of emotional intelligence, he's a bright guy. He knows what buttons to push with his footballers.
"You have to put into context that three years ago they were finishing ninth in the Premier League doing extraordinarily well and a lot of those players are still at the football club, so we shouldn't be surprised that Sheffield United are doing really well. Hecky has done a really amazing job because he fell upon the job really, having been part of the staff, and then he got thrust in and did so well that they have kept him.
"I really like Paul and the way he carries himself, his team reflects his values and the work ethic they bring. They have hit a spell - they've won two of their last six - at a time when they would have wanted to have been powering on, but they have found it a bit more difficult.
"They've gone through a spell of games, as we did last month, where they have been playing a game every three days because of their progression in the FA Cup."
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