SUNDERLAND head coach has revealed training this week has been intense as his beleaguered players look to keep their places in his team for Monday night’s trip to Crystal Palace.

The Black Cats are desperate for a win after dropping into the bottom three last weekend after back-to-back defeats to Southampton and Arsenal.

Costly errors were to blame in both games, in which Sunderland shipped ten goals, and Poyet has threatened to make what changes he can but he revealed the squad has been working hard to put things right.

“We've been trying hard to get back to basics, going back to the feeling we had before Southampton,” Poyet said.

“These players don't want to lose their places, so it's been as intense as expected.

“We have to make sure we don't defend like we did against Southampton. They were nervous for 20 minutes against Arsenal, but tried their best after that and defended how we know they can defend.

“What we didn't need were the two individual mistakes.”

Steven Fletcher is fit to play despite limping out of last Saturday’s game.