Jordan Henderson is relishing an emotional return to Wearside when England take on Australia at the Stadium of Light on Friday evening.
Hailing from Farringdon, the Sunderland-born midfielder rose through the ranks at the Academy of Light before moving to Anfield in 2011.
Now Liverpool captain, Henderson has revealed his excitement ahead of a return to his hometown with England in their Euro 2016 warm-up match against Australia.
“It means a lot to the people here that England will be playing in the north east,” Henderson told theFA.com. “The people here are very passionate about their football.
"The atmosphere in the last game here against Turkey was very good, and we got a good result too.
He continued: “I was ball boy for the game, but I can’t remember much about it. The atmosphere was brilliant, though – I can remember that."
Hopefully it will be the same again.”
The 25-year-old came off the bench in the Three Lions’ 2-1 win over Turkey last Sunday at the Etihad as he continues his return from a knee injury.
Despite missing out on Liverpool’s Europa League final against Seville, Henderson did feature in their final league game of the season away at West Bromwich Albion.
But as the European Championships edge closer, Henderson keen to notch more minutes under his belt in order to reach peak fitness ahead of England’s opening group game against Russia.
“I’m still improving. I feel I’ve trained well this week and I feel good, so hopefully I will get more minutes to get my match sharpness back.
“I’m hoping to be on the plane for the first game of the Euros. I feel ready and if I do get the chance to play I just want to make sure I do everything I’ve done before.”
