Andy Welsh believes Sunderland under-23s must prepare themselves for a physically challenging season.
The young Black Cats are currently in the tail end of their pre-season where they are fine tuning areas of their play ahead of their season opener at home to Chelsea on August 14.
Having enjoyed a number of testing friendlies and a four-day intense training camp in the scorching Spanish heat, the under-23s have been pushed to their limits as they get up to speed.
Speaking to safc.com Welsh admitted while preparations have been challenging that is merely an eye opener of what's to come.
"We are looking forward to the start of the season," he said. "Pre-season has been difficult but we are trying to get a strong squad together for Chelsea and we are looking forward to that.
"This year will be a challenge for the lads because there are a lot of games. We have to play a minimum of 35 games and potentially a maximum of 45 so that's a lot."
He continued: "We are going to need a lot of players with us to fulfil that and it will be a much stronger league this year than it has ever been.
"We have got plenty of decisions to make off the field but what's important is that we have a squad strong enough to compete with the quality of the games as well as the amount of matches also."