Lee Johnson insists Sunderland's play-off failure last season has only made him more determined to lead the club out of League One this term.
Johnson took over in December and steered the Black Cats to the brink of the automatic promotion places by early April, before an end-of-season slump saw them finish fourth and they then lost out to Lincoln City over two legs in the play-off semi-final.
The head coach is now gearing up for his first full season in charge of the club, with the players due to return to the Academy of Light on Monday to begin pre-season training, and a summer squad overhaul set to begin in the coming days.
And while he still feels the 'pain' of last season's disappointment, he says it has only strengthened his determination to suceed on Wearside.
"First of all, we have to embrace last season," Johnson told the club's official website ahead of the new campaign.
"Having had time to reflect, it doesn't stop the pain but it does enhance the will to win.
"People here don't know me well enough yet to know exactly how I feel about those situations.
"But the starting point has to be to get a competitive squad, and that's what we are doing now.
"Then the pre-season period lends itself to getting the players as fit as possible, and hopefully avoiding getting the injuries that we had last year.
"Particularly with muscle injuries, a coach will always feel it is almost a personal attack.
"With the change of footballing philosophy sometimes it does happen, but now we have a chance in the way that we recruit, in the way that we coach, to work on it.
"Certainly we have got more coaching time now and that is important to me because it is the bit that I love most.
"Every new player that comes in will hopefully really fit in, and their natural attributes will work in that system.
"I know how important pre-season is for a successful season.
"We need to get a lot of things right because this club is a 'doer-upper', whether that is the inside of the buildings, rejigging the squad, or adding quality staff to the backroom team that we have already got.
"It is a big, big, job for the powers-that-be to get this great place and this great club to where it needs to be."
Given that almost the entirety of last season was played behind-closed-doors due to the Covid pandemic, Johnson has had only limited contact with Sunderland fans in his six months in charge.
The only game that Sunderland fans were able to watch in person last season was the play-off semi-final second leg against Lincoln at the Stadium of Light, and even then the attendance was capped at 10,000.
Sunderland went into that match needing to claw back a 2-0 first leg deficit and they did so in little more than half-an-hour, before conceding a goal in the second half which meant they lost the tie overall despite winning 2-1 on the day.
Johnson took great heart from the support given to his team in that game, and says the backing of the fans is an essential ingredient if the club is to thrive.
Fans are expected to return to grounds from the start of next season and Sunderland have already sold more than 21,000 season cards.
Johnson said: "As we said on Day One, the potential here is magnificent.
"I've been at some big clubs but this is the biggest club that I have been involved in as a senior from the age of 17, and that really has to aid our charge.
"The hardest thing at Sunderland is to create the cause, because there is a lot of pressure on the players for understandable reasons, but also the protection.
"At Liverpool they say you'll never walk alone, and if we can create the same kind of siege mentality from fanbase to board to playing staff to coaching staff, that really is the strength of the club and the power of the club.
"The players have got to feel that they are trusted, that they are loved, that they are protected, to then go and execute the game that we want them to do.
"And I think that game will be super-exciting throughout the season.
"I think that probably the first half of the second leg against Lincoln gave a glimpse of that.
"The fans have the power to enhance our game, and we have to make that last for 96 minutes, times 46 games.
"That's the challenge and of course it won't always go to plan, but at least we will be consistent in our style and approach to the games, and our energy and our fitness."
