Saturday 22 November 2014 10:30, UK
Sunderland boss Gus Poyet is confident his team can take advantage of the fact that Leicester’s promotion adrenaline has run out.
Leicester have taken just a single point from their past six Premier League games and find themselves in the relegation places after what was a good start to the season.
They drew with Arsenal and Everton before beating Stoke City and Manchester United at the start of the season but have lost their past four games.
Poyet said: "Normally when you finish the season in the Championship well, you normally start well because of the adrenaline and the craziness of having the chance to play there, and if one or two results go for you, you get a little bit longer.
Everything was going well for them. But you can't maintain adrenaline for 25 games.
"I think that's what happened to Leicester in the beginning. Everything was going well for them. But you can't maintain adrenaline for 25 games. You get one, two, three, four or whatever and then you just feel that you are a Premier League team.
"Then you need to maintain that, and that's when it's a little bit tougher. That's why it's maybe a little bit downhill at the moment.
"But I don't think there's a difference between Leicester and the rest of the bottom 10, there are ups and downs in there. Like any other manager, the sooner they get it up again, the better for them.
"Of course when they play against us, we will try not to let that happen, but I think that's what Nigel is going to be looking to, to use this game as a comeback to the feeling at the beginning of the season."
Poyet will be hoping for an improved performance from his players than the one their produced after the previous international window.
It could hardly be worse than the 8-0 hammering the Black Cats sustained at Southampton, and Poyer has reminded his squad of that dark day in the build-up to the weekend.
"We have to make sure that we are much better than the previous game after the international break, if you know what I mean,” he said.
"There was a little bit of a reminder this morning to think about what we did last time we were internationals and to make sure we don't feel that way again, and that we forget as quickly as possible about the internationals and all the stories about the national teams and the travelling and think about Sunderland.
"That's the best way to come back. Close it, 'That's it, the internationals have finished until the next one in March, I'm not going to think about it now, I am fully focused on Sunderland'."
