SUNDERLAND’S players have been told to prove how much they believe in Gustavo Poyet’s methods after a frustrating start to the campaign which has left them wondering when the first win will arrive.

The Black Cats could drop in to the Premier League bottom’s three this afternoon if they lose at home to fifth-placed Swansea City and that would increase the growing concerns among supporters on Wearside.

Poyet does not quite feel it is at the ‘critical’ stage for Sunderland to end the wait for three points, but he accepts that back-to-back home dates will provide an opportunity to kickstart a stuttering campaign.

Sunderland have drawn four and lost one of their opening five league fixtures and the midweek defeat to Stoke City in the Capital One Cup has only heightened concerns among sections of supporters.

Now Poyet, keen to see improvements soon, is desperate for his players to put on a show at the Stadium of Light, either against Swansea this week or Stoke next – ideally in both!

“Of course if something doesn’t go our way I’m not going to panic,” said Poyet. “We need to win at least one of the games, but we’d rather win two. That would change the mentality of players. It would confirm things about the way we work.

“In the next two or three games, if we get a set-play that works, the players will want to try it again, but if you do it 15 times and it doesn’t work the players won’t want to do it again.

“We’ve got a way of playing, we defend in a way, to be difficult to beat, but we need to win so that everybody buys into what we want to do. It would be confirmation.”

Sunderland have not been dreadful so far, but a lack of goals – particularly from the strikers – is in desperate need of addressing. Jozy Altidore became the first striker to hit the net this season when he scored on Tuesday, but the Premier League slump needs sorting.

Poyet is toying with the idea of starting with Altidore today, although Connor Wickham is pressing for a return after suffering from a back problem. Whoever starts up front, Poyet has already confirmed that Will Buckley will be on the pitch trying to supply the ammunition.

But the Sunderland boss does not feel it is fair to compare Sunderland’s frustrating start with that of 12 months ago, when Paolo Di Canio oversaw four defeats and one draw from the opening five matches.

He said: “First the points we have got are different, because last season we were losing games and losing them badly. We’ve lost one game in the league 1-0, which in my opinion we didn’t deserve to lose.

“We’ve lost a game in the cup to Stoke that could have gone either way. I have the belief we are very close and when it goes the other way in those games, we could win by two or three [in a row]. How long can it go on? Right now I’m confident the players are happy and we are close to getting the win. The sooner the better, of course.”

The Uruguayan will not panic if Swansea leave Wearside with the three points today. He said: “I wouldn’t be that extreme to say it is critical we win. I would like to think we are going in a good direction.

“We feel OK, the players are happy, they know their roles in the team, there is good competition and we have options. We don’t want to go into this game thinking ‘if we don’t win it’s a nightmare’. It shouldn’t be like that and I don’t want to be like that.

“Yes, we play the game to win. We know how important three points are and we know who we play against so we have to be good. We have to be competitive. It’s been tight in every single game. We haven’t been out-played except for 35 minutes against Tottenham. The idea is to get something from the game.”

Despite fears across the country that Swansea would suffer this year after deciding to replace Michael Laudrup with Garry Monk, the Swans have started strongly. Monk has led them to fifth courtesy of three wins from five.

Poyet said: “It’s a special game because of the way they play. You have two sides who want to create chances and score, but you need to keep it tight as well.

“I’ve had the stats and there have been 30 more goals this season than at the same stage last season. Are the managers playing too open? Or are we defending worse than last year? You have to get the balance right and I don’t think we have got that working properly yet.”

Sunderland (4-1-4-1): Mannone; Jones, O’Shea, Brown, Van Aanholt; Cattermole; Buckley, Rodwell, Giaccherini, Johnson; Wickham.

Swansea (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor; Shelvey, Ki; Dyer, Sigurdsson, Routledge; Bony.