Having seen all the other relegation-battling teams drop points at the weekend, Sunderland will know the importance of a victory when they travel to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace in the English Premier League on Monday.
Newcastle United, Norwich City and Aston Villa all lost on Saturday, while Bournemouth only added a point more to their kitty, which keeps them in the bottom three.
Sunderland have managed just six points from 12 matches so far this season, and Sam Allardyce will know wins and points are the need of the hour.
"I'm still learning about the players but it's those individual errors that we have to cut out of our game to make sure that these performances produce result," Allardyce told Sunderland's official website.
"Mistakes generally come through pressure and you've got to be able to handle the pressure. We can't play with fear because fear is a terrible thing in football. If you're fearful before you ever step onto the pitch then you can never perform to the best."
Sunderland have already conceded 26 goals this season, the second highest in the league, and defence is something Allardyce is determined to put right.
"My philosophy has always been that you start from the back, the players need to understand that if they think that it's negative then it's not, it's a massive positive," Allardyce added. "As soon as you don't concede a goal you don't lose the game and you've got a point and you only need one goal to win it.
"It should be the most positive in their mind if they achieve a clean sheet as often as they can because it's going to give them a very, very good chance of winning more and more football matches and getting further up the league as soon as possible."
Crystal Palace are comfortable placed in 10th having played 12 matches, with three points in front of their home fans taking them all the way up to sixth. That should be more than motivation enough to beat Sunderland, with Palace looking to carry the momentum created from the impressive win over Liverpool at Anfield before the international break.
"They're a team that will be desperate to get something so they'll come here ready to go and hopefully we'll be on our game to not only counteract them, but take it to them with a purpose," Crystal Palace skipper Mile Jedinak wrote in his column on the club's official website."
Team news: Crystal Palace: Alan Pardew will have Marouane Chamakh and Connor Wickham available, but fellow forward Dwight Gayle is still missing with a hamstring problem. Bakary Sako is a doubt, as is Papa Souare.
Sunderland: Allardyce said he expected to have a full squad to pick from. "We're expecting by Monday to virtually have a full squad available but there are some players who haven't played or trained that much recently so I'd have to take a view on whether it would be right to pick them or not," the Sunderland manager said.
Where to Watch Live
Crystal Palace vs Sunderland is scheduled for an 8 pm local time (1.30 am IST, 4 am ET) start. Live TV coverage of the English Premier League match in India will be on Star Sports 4/HD4, while all the Premier League action can be watched via live streaming online on Hotstar and Starsports.com.
Sky Sports 1 will broadcast the Premier League match live in the UK, while the action can also be live streamed online on Watch Sky Sports.
Watch the EPL game live in the US on NBCSN, with the live stream option on NBC Sports Live Extra. Canada viewers can watch the game live on Sportsnet, with the live stream option on Sportsnet World Online.
Australia viewers can catch the EPL action live on Fox Sports, while the online live streaming options are on Fox Sports On Demand and Foxtel Play.
Viewers in the Middle East and North Africa can watch Palace vs Sunderland live on Bein Sports Arabia and Bein Sports Connect.
