Sunderland must take control against Doncaster Rovers tomorrow - and talismanic midfielder Lee Cattermole has a crucial role to play, if he returns as expected.
That's the view of Black Cats manager Jack Ross who admits his side lost their grip against Coventry City last weekend, suffering their first home league defeat of the season with the Sky Blues running out 5-4 winners in a game which saw all defensive discipline go by the wayside.
Fingers have pointed at centre-backs Tom Flanagan and Jack Baldwin , and at Ross for playing a 4-4-2 system which afforded the defence little protection.
Ross believes Sunderland's biggest problem was not the system but stemmed from poor decision-making from individuals in possession and that is something he has worked to address in training this week before Rovers arrive on Wearside tomorrow evening.
Sunderland have by-and-large controlled games at home this season but against Coventry, and in their previous home game against Burton Albion, which ended in a draw, they have been too open and Ross says that must change.
"Systems play a part, but it is the way the game is played by the individuals within the system that dictate it," he said.
"We maybe got caught up a little bit in the emotion of it last weekend - and I have to take my share of the responsibility for that as well - and feeling that we need to win it within the first 15 minutes.
"If you don't do that, and you fall behind, the dynamics of the game change and you have to become more open and it becomes more basketball-like - at times that can be OK, and at times we have shown that we can wear teams down at home as well by having that control.
"It is probably easier to go from being in control to more open, than it is to go from being open to being in control.
"There has been a lot for us to look back on and reflect upon."
Cattermole has not played since Sunderland's EFL Trophy final appearance at Wembley at the end of March, sitting out three games due to an ongoing ankle issue, and then returning to the squad against Coventry - albeit only as an unused substitute.
But Cattermole is now ready to return and his experience in the middle of the pitch should help Sunderland gain the ascendancy against Rovers.
Ross said: "Lee is properly in contention now.
"Last weekend, in an ideal world, I probably would not have had him in the squad because he had hardly trained, but we were short of bodies and by having him there, if the game had required it, we could have used him.
"He's trained well this week, though, and he is at full throttle now.
"His form over the course of the season have been good and he brings good things out of those around him, and makes demands of them.
"There is probably more responsibility resting with the players on the pitch than you would imagine because they can see the game from the inside of it and they can affect it as well.
"I'm not talking about players all of a sudden changing tactics within games, but they can sometimes pull players around according to what they see on the pitch.
"Lee has a good understanding of that and his influence on the players around him is good."
