Vito Mannone has expressed his delight after Sunderland kicked-off their pre-season campaign with a win and a clean sheet over Hartlepool United on Wednesday evening.
The stopper featured for 45 minutes as the Lads built a comfortable 3-0 lead after a Jermain Defoe brace and a Wahbi Khazri strike.
It was the Black Cats’ first test ahead of the new 2016-17 Premier League season and speaking to safc.com Mannone admitted it was a worthwhile match fitness booster.
“We’ve had a good result after a tough 10-days in Austria,” he smiled. “We really focused on our fitness and getting back to our standards in the football way. It's nice to get the minutes for the lads, a good game and a competitive one where you can test yourself.
“The team has done well, it’s a good result and now we kick on with another game in two day’s time."
He continued: “Lets hope we can maintain that form all season because we will be fine. We have got some great attacking forwards and I have always said this team has got a good base and I still think we have.
"We just want to get more minutes under our belts. Be ready and be confident, work on those small details and when we play a game we continue to build up towards our first Premier League game which is going to be very tough."