It's a very early start this morning to finish off the match coverage of the Benfica game as the squad prepare to fly home.

A great effort by Sunderland just wasn't quite enough against a Benfica side who were magnificent on the ball at times and scored two great goals.

Nonetheless, manager Steve Bruce was upbeat when we spoke to him after the game, saying the match was a great work-out for his team.

They were always up against it taking on arguably the best team in Portugal, but Bruce will have been pleased with his side's application, especially without Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones.

The atmosphere was fantastic and, amongst all the Benfica fans, the 1,500 Sunderland fans certainly made themselves heard, too.

So, the squad fly out of Faro airport back to Newcastle today to reflect on an excellent trip which saw them win one, draw one and lose one of their three games.

The experience has been valuable for everyone but now it's back to the hard work on Wearside for the players.

Keep logging on to safc.com throughout the week for more as we review the Portugal trip and look forward to the Leicester game.

I hope you've enjoyed our coverage - there's much more to come this pre-season and beyond.

Stu Vose