AFTER losing 1-0 at home to 10-man Crystal Palace, the time has come for Hull City to get back to doing the basics right.
It won't take too much to fix, because City had been playing well up to the last couple of games against Palace and Southampton.
Steve Bruce just needs to remind his players of the things they did in the first 10 matches.
They were playing well as a team, and they need to get back to that against Liverpool.
That won't be easy considering, the start Liverpool have made to the season.
City cannot afford to be as poor as they were against Crystal Palace last weekend.
The big-name players like Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore didn't perform as well as we know they can.
They are the two players in midfield who make things tick for the Tigers.
Maybe teams are sussing us out now. Southampton did well to shut them down and won 4-1.
Palace bullied them in midfield and won 1-0, even after they had their man sent off.
City need Huddlestone and Livermore to link play up, or it will be another long afternoon.
Those two need to find their feet quickly, because Liverpool will be in the mood to make them pay if they don't.
Maybe some of the players were getting carried away by the start they had made.
The reassuring thing for City fans is the fact we tend to play better against the so-called better teams.
We always seem to struggle against the sides languishing at the bottom – like Palace.
There was talk recently about Huddlestone being called up to the England side for their friendlies against Chile and Germany.
Roy Hodgson has said after those back-to-back defeats that there won't be any new faces in his World Cup squad, which is bad news for Huddlestone.
The door may not be shut for good, though. Injuries could create an opening for him, but only if he plays well for the Tigers.
We know he can, and personally I'd like to see him take on more shots. All too often he is keen to move the ball on for others to either shoot or cross.
We know he has a great shot on him, and I want to see him pull the trigger more often and not shift responsibility onto team-mates.
I have every faith in him scoring his first goal very soon.
Fans have talked about switching to a 5-3-2 formation, but I can't see Bruce doing that because he likes to be positive.
He doesn't want to have five defenders, even against one of the deadliest Premier League strike partnerships in recent seasons.
Southampton found our weakness in that formation, and made us pay.
Liverpool will too, so Bruce will have to think long and hard about what way to line up.
Last week against Palace, we went into a home game as favourites and we couldn't deal with the different sort of pressure.
We could do with Robbie Brady being at his best, but it seems like he has work to do to get over his hernia injury.
I was surprised to hear the manager say it was a mental thing for Brady to overcome.
When I was injured, I was fine when I got back playing.
Bruce has to assure Brady he's fine to play. He wouldn't be considered if the medical team didn't think he was good to go.
James Chester was 50/50 for the Southampton game and missed the Palace match, so hopefully he could return against Liverpool.
If he does, he needs to be 100 per cent fit to face Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge.
