Sunderland boss Steve Bruce wants to see his team play "without fear" when they face Bolton Wanderers at the Stadium of Light.
Bruce's boys are without a win in 14 games going into the clash with a Wanderers side who sit just two places and two points above the men from Wearside.
The SoL chief looked on in frustration as the nerves crept in against Fulham and he's been working hard to eradicate the direct style of play which characterised the second half of the 0-0 draw against the Londoners.
"It's my job to calm everyone down and get them playing without fear," said Bruce, whose team are on the longest winless stretch in the Barclays Premier League this season.
"At the moment, too many of them are playing with a fear of being beaten; they're tense and giving the ball away. I don't want to see it and I'm sure the supporters don't want to see it either.
"Everyone wants to see us back playing the football we did at the start of the season. People accuse me of lumping the ball up the pitch, and that's the last thing I'd resort to.
"Unfortunately the players were edgy on Sunday and they did that a bit too much. That's something we've been working on this week."
Leading scorer Darren Bent got Sunderland off to the perfect start when his first league goal for the club proved to be the difference against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium back in August.
Now Bruce says it's all about the players showing their mental strength to shrug off the pressure of a winless run and get the win needed to "calm everyone down."
"We had a wonderful result to get our season off to a great start there and we played very, very well on the day," he explained.
"Now we have a chance to do the double, we need a result and I'm convinced we can get it. If we can get up to 30 points with 10 games to spare, it's all to play for.
"It's about the mental side now. The players are as physically fit as they're going to be as the majority have been training and playing for months now.
"Now it's down to mentality - how to handle the situation. We need a different type of courage - people who get on the ball. That's what we're looking for."
Bruce added: "I'm convinced we've shown signs that we're becoming tougher to beat, but it took a long time. We need that victory which will calm everyone down."
