Max Stryjek is readying himself for a difficult test when Benfica come to town on Friday evening.
Sunderland under-23s open their Premier League International Cup account tomorrow at Eppleton Colliery Welfare as the Portuguese outfit visit Wearside.
Josh Maja’s inspired run of form with two goals in as many games has seen the Black Cats halt their barren run of six games without a win.
And as Helder Cristovao’s side head to the north east of England, Stryjek has already set his sights on emulating last season’s quarter-final achievement.
“I think it’s going to be a really tough game and I’m expecting a technical test,” he said. “We have watched a few videos of Benfica and hopefully we can get a result from it.
“We want to win games and we want to do well in the competition. I think we can repeat what we did last season, we have a good team and hopefully we can show that tomorrow night.”
He continued: “We always want to win games, it’s the first game of the tournament and we really want to make sure we can get some momentum to go on and win more games.
“It will be a good test, it’s something new, they are a different test, and they bring a style of football we aren’t used to.”
