Lincoln City boss Michael Appleton believes the pressure is off his side ahead of their six pointer on Wearside this weekend.
The Imps have won just once from their last seven league games and have surrendered their place at the top of the league.
Sunderland's win over Accrington in mid-week lifted the Black Cats up to third - leapfrogging this weekend's opponents.
Despite Lincoln's poor run of form, Appleton believes his side can "surprise one or two" this weekend.
Speaking to LincsLive he said: “The lads are fine. In football for me, it’s all about the next game.
“We weren’t going over the top when we were winning every week, no-one was getting carried away with themselves. We were enjoying that moment and rightly so, because the performances were good.
“If you take the last four games [against Crewe, Ipswich, Rochdale and Gillingham], three of the performances have been pretty good, yet we’ve only taken four points from them. Over a period of time, that will change.
“Everyone will be expecting them [Sunderland] to turn us over.
“We’ll go up there and enjoy it. No-one is expecting us to win, everyone is expecting us to lose. Maybe we’ll surprise one or two.”
The Imps struggled to contain Gillingham's Vadaine Oliver during the week as they were thumped 3-0 by the Gills at the LNER Stadium, and will have their hands full once again as Charlie Wyke looks to add to his impressive tally this season.
Wyke scored the equaliser in the semi-final of the EFL Trophy last month, with the Black Cats winning on penalties.
“We played well there that night,” recalled Appleton. “Clearly, Charlie Wyke is a presence and a danger.
“Him and Oliver are probably the best two in the division of, when the ball is around them, dealing with it, getting the flick-ons and bringing other people into play.”
