GUS POYET has challenged his Sunderland players to forget about the chaos that has engulfed the club in the last fortnight, and concentrate on the remaining ten matches that will decide the battle for Premier League survival.

Sunderland’s world was turned upside down on the eve of their most recent match at Hull City when England midfielder Adam Johnson was arrested on suspicion of sexual activity with a minor, and subsequently suspended until a police investigation is concluded.

Twenty-four hours later, and Poyet was being sent to the stands for improper conduct after kicking over a drinks container prior to arguing with Hull boss Steve Bruce.

The Black Cats head coach, who will contest the charge at an FA hearing next week, is permitted to take up his place in the dug-out as Sunderland entertain relegation rivals Aston Villa this afternoon, and just as he is eager to put recent events behind him, so he is urging his players not to lose their focus as the fight at the foot of the table intensifies.

“I have to draw a line under everything, and it is the same for the players as well,” said Poyet, who is without the suspended Lee Cattermole. “That was the plan when we gave them the weekend off.

“We challenged ourselves to come back refreshed for the final ten games. We’ve got the international break and then the Arsenal game is postponed, so there will be a couple of gaps (between now and the end of the season), but we’re into a run of games now and it’s clear what we have to do.

“The atmosphere has been good. Everybody feels refreshed, and we know the challenge is to win the game on Saturday. It’s about us performing now.”

As well as giving his players some time off as the scheduling of the FA Cup quarter-finals created a blank weekend, Poyet also took the unusual step of completely avoiding football himself last Saturday and Sunday.

He travelled to London for some retail therapy, and admits he needed to take a step away from the maelstrom that was threatening to engulf his squad and coaching staff as the fall-out from a difficult few days refused to fade.

One week on, and while Johnson’s suspension will continue to have ramifications both on and off the pitch, a semblance of normality has returned to the Academy of Light training ground.

Not, however, that there was anything normal about the majority of this month’s developments, most of which, unsurprisingly, took Poyet by complete surprise.

“There have been things that you don’t learn about on a coaching course,” he said, with a fair degree of understatement. “On coaching courses, you learn about football, organisation and training - some of the things I’ve had to deal with, it depends on your character…. I don’t know if I’m doing right or wrong, that’s for other people (to decide).

“The weekend off came at the perfect time. If you asked me before whether some of the things that have happened would happen, I wouldn’t have believed you.

“I needed the break. I went away, but more importantly so did the staff and players. I needed to get away from football, so I went shopping in London. Well, sort of, I didn’t buy anything, but you know what I mean. It was a totally different day to what I do here every day.”

Today will see Poyet back on the touchline, and while the full effects of his altercation with Bruce are still to become clear, the Uruguayan insists he will not be changing his ways.

He will contest his improper conduct charge, which relates to the kicking over of a drinks container rather than anything that was said to Bruce, next week, and has not felt the need to apologise to one of his predecessors at the Stadium of Light.

“I’ve been in charge here for maybe 60 games (74), and I haven’t had one complaint, one issue,” he said. “I haven’t been ‘reminded of my responsibilities’, nothing. We live in football, we agree or disagree, but we don’t go over the line. There was nothing to forgive.”

Poyet also sees no need to apologise for Sunderland’s overall disciplinary record, despite the club being at the bottom of the Premier League’s Fair Play table.

“It’s so superficial,” he said. “Until two months ago, we hadn’t had a sending off, so how can we be bottom? Of the sending-offs we’ve had, one was the last man, another was for two yellows.

“How do they come up with the points? How many points is it for someone spitting at someone? Three million?

“Me, I’d use commonsense. I’ve not seen anything that makes me think we’re dirty, so why we’re bottom, I don’t know. I’d like someone to explain, but there would be no explanation, just words that don’t make sense.”