Chris Coleman is determined to see his players to shake things up at the bottom this weekend with victory over Preston North End.
Sunderland welcome Alex Neil and his men to the Stadium of Light this Saturday, looking to secure their first win since January.
Currently five adrift of safety in the Sky Bet Championship, the Welshman is determined to inspire his side to land a few punches in an attempt to close the gap on 21st place Barnsley who entertain Millwall at 1pm this Saturday.
Speaking at his press conference on Friday morning, Coleman admitted with just nine games left his players can no longer look to the next match or the one after that for hope, they must start collecting points now if they are to turn the tide on their season.
“Forget about our home form or the situation there. It is a game of football at 3pm where anything can happen,” he said.
“They will know it will be a tough game for them as well as us.
“Both teams are playing for a lot but let’s just see where we end up at 5pm. For them, they will know the situation we are in and that we are fighting for ourselves.
“I’m sure they will be in the same mood because they need the three points as well.
“When people say you are going to need four, five or six wins to stay up – nobody knows what is needed.
“It is a crazy league in the Championship. You never know one result from the next. The inconsistencies (are there for all to see), we should’ve really got something against QPR last weekend even with 10 men.
“And then you see QPR go to Aston Villa in midweek, who have been one an incredible run, and win 3-1. That is this league.
“How many wins we need we don’t know,” he continued. “We just need to look at our next game like it is our last game and put everything into that.
“We need something positive. A positive feeling. Home or away it doesn’t matter it is about getting something positive and one 90-minute match can change everything.
“We have just got to make sure we are on the end of that in a positive way.”
