Gus Poyet has stressed the importance of Sunderland providing an attacking threat when they travel to Tottenham in the Premier League this weekend.
Sunderland have only won once in their last 11 top-flight games going into the clash at White Hart Lane - a ground they were hammered 5-1 at last season.
Poyet has moved to address his side's attacking problems with the signing of Jermain Defoe on Friday, and the ex-Spurs striker goes straight into his squad for Saturday's match.
"They [Tottenham] are capable of scoring goals, going forward they are impressive," he said. "At home lately they've got confidence.
"We need to find balance, it's not all about defending and shape, we need to find the balance to be able to go the other way.
"And we need to find a way to play with two strikers now we've got Jermain, things are going to change slowly - step-by-step - to get the best out of Jermain, this is the first step.
"We need to play, I don't think about last year - that was the dark side of football."
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