The Black Caps need a lift in attitude and aggression in Sunday’s second one-dayer against the West Indies in Jamaica, assistant coach Trent Woodhill says.

Battered by two heavy Twenty20 defeats last week, and pummelled by nine wickets in Friday’s first-up ODI, the rusty and inexperienced New Zealanders have shown little fight against an up-tempo Windies outfit.

But Woodhill is hopeful a shift in focus will help the Black Caps back onto a more competitive footing at Kingston’s Sabina Park on Sunday.

“The challenge is making sure we get up to speed really quickly,” Woodhill said.

“It’s about coming up with a game plan, and going at it 100 per cent.”

Despite their underwhelming recent results, Woodhill wants the Black Caps to back themselves.

“It’s about making sure they have trust and faith in their skills and their technique.

“They need to back their instincts, back their talents and definitely be aggressive with their mindset when they go out to bat.”

Only BJ Watling, with a face-saving 60, and allrounder Jacob Oram’s 32 off 39 balls saved New Zealand’s blushes on Friday.

Veteran pace bowler Kyle Mills says establishing partnerships will be key to setting a competitive total on Sunday, something the Black Caps bowling attack can defend.

Mills’ own preoccupation lies with reining in a destructive Chris Gayle, who has been in imperious form in rattling out Twenty20 innings of 85 and 53 and then following that up in the opening ODI with 63.

“Chris Gayle is the most explosive batsman in world cricket at the moment, and it’s no easy task bowling to him,” Mills said.

“I’ve got pretty specific plans to him – I’m trying not to bowl the same ball twice in a row, I’ll keep changing it up and try to stay ahead of his game plan.

“But I’m sure he’s going to come at me pretty hard and some stage, and that could happen tomorrow.”