Paolo Di Canio will hope for a better performance from his Sunderland side when the Black Cats host Stoke City in their English Premier League game Monday.
Sunderland are currently precariously placed in 17th, just two points ahead of third bottom Wigan. Stoke have reached that magical 40-point mark, but with so many teams closely bunched together in the bottom half of the table, the Potters are far from safe.
"If you look at all the Leagues, not just the Premier League, they have all been incredibly tight this season," Stoke manager Tony Pulis said. "It's been one of those seasons when promotion and relegation issues have gone right to the end.
"What we have seen in the Premier League over the past couple of weeks is teams who were right in the thick of the relegation battle picking up good results. There will be more twists and turns in the last couple of weeks, so we can't afford to relax."
Stoke will be wary of a Sunderland side which have shown improvement since Di Canio's appointment, although they did crash to a disappointing 6-1 defeat to Aston Villa last Monday.
"After two good wins, and the results we saw for Wigan and Newcastle (last weekend), we relaxed too much," Di Canio said. "It's clear that is true. We have to remember that if we don't perform like we can, we can receive a big slap every time.
"We must make sure we drop back to how we were over the previous three weeks. When I was a player, we won an important game against a top side, and then the week after lost 7-1.
"I don't accept it as a manager, but I know it can happen. It's not acceptable, especially in this moment of the season. People say we need three points, but in the end we have to get them. No-one can give out the guarantee.
"We have to make sure we don't repeat it."
Sunderland will be without playmaker Stephane Sessegnon, who will miss the rest of the season after his straight red card against Aston Villa, which resulted in a three-match ban. Connor Wickham is again expected to miss out, while Steven Fletcher and Lee Cattermole are long-term casualties.
Stoke have doubts over Marc Wilson, Andy Wilkinson and Glenn Whelan.
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Expected lineups: Sunderland: Mignolet; Colback, O'Shea, Kilgallon, Rose; Gardner, N'Diaye; Larsson, Johnson, McClean; Graham.
Stoke City: Begovic; Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Shotton; Nzonzi, Whelan; Jerome, Adam, Walters; Crouch.
Prediction: 2-0 to Sunderland
