Sunderland already possess the blueprints for success at Manchester City according to Jeremain Lens.
A tireless display against Borussia Dortmund saw the Black Cats come from behind against the Bundesliga giants, with Lens’ wicked free-kick finding the head of Lamine Kone who sent a bullet past Roman Weidenfellar.
Dortmund surged forward late on in attempt to find a winner but Sunderland defended resiliently and there was no way through, with the Lads ensuring they remained unbeaten throughout pre-season.
On Saturday David Moyes’ side travel to the Etihad Stadium aiming to spoil Pep Guardiola’s party, and the Dutchman believes the key to success is already in Sunderland’s hands.
“We didn’t lose in pre-season and if we can continue along that line I think we will do very well,” said Lens. “The first game is always difficult and we start against a big team in Manchester City.
“We need to defend like we did against Dortmund and try to score to score one goal, or hopefully more.”
He continued: “We trained very hard in pre-season and hopefully we can start the season well.
“As everybody knows we finished last season with a good record and the new manager is trying to start this year as we ended the last, and we have the players and we have the quality to do so.
“With this squad we need to do better than we did last year.”
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