Elliott Dickman has called for Sunderland under-18s to hit the ground running with a strong performance at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The young Black Cats head to the West Midlands on Saturday with high hopes of getting their U18 Premier League campaign off to a good start.
With a fresh feel about Sunderland's 2016-17 youth team, Dickman's young troops have spent pre-season getting to know each other and have so far gained some positive victories to build on.
Speaking to safc.com Dickman was unable to hide his excitement ahead of the new season and has asked for his players to deliver a strong performance.
"Pre-season has been good and it has been a good opportunity for us to assess where we are at and what sort of shape the players are in," he said.
"The six weeks preparation has been worthwhile and there are a lot of positive signs going into the new season.
"A performance is what we want and if that brings out a result then so be it. We need to build on what the boys have done in the last six weeks and that is important for us," he continued.
"We need to keep developing and improving, part of their development has to be game manage and this group have done that well in pre-season, but continuing that into the league is now the aim."
