Sunderland headed home from their pre-season trip to Portugal today as they completed six days of warm weather training and two matches.
Here are five things we learned from the trip:
Three at the back
Last season we saw Sunderland boss Jack Ross toy with the idea of three at the back, but injuries meant that he was often left without the players to implement the system.
In pre-season so far, the boss has gone with three at the back and the results have been positive so far with just one goal conceded in three games.
New signing Jordan Willis has slotted in perfectly in that back three and he could be the key component in the new formation.
Embleton like a new signing
Elliot Embleton signed a new contract with Sunderland last week and he has been like a new signing to the team.
Embo has been terrific in pre-season so far and has been at the heart of Sunderland’s best moves.
The signs look positive that the academy product could be a very important cog in the team over the coming season.
Max Power returns
It could be argued that Sunderland lost the play-off final in May because of the injury to Max Power early in the game.
That injury was enough to potentially rule Power out for the whole of pre-season, but the former Wigan Athletic player has managed to somehow to make his way back to full fitness around a month earlier than expected.
The 20 minutes he played on Saturday against Belenenses would have done him the world of good and put him in contention for the weekend’s game against Heerenveen.
Ruben making a positive impression
Ruben Sammut came to Sunderland this summer from Chelsea and he was expected to contribute more so to the development squad than the first team.
But his attitude and ability have given him a crack at being in the managers first team plans, and he has grasped the opportunity in pre-season.
His composure on the ball and technical ability has been on show during the games and in training – so don’t be surprised to see Sammut given a larger than expected role once the season starts.
McGeady nearing a return
Aiden McGeady failed to get any minutes in either pre-season game as he makes his way back from a foot injury, but the Republic of Ireland international did return to training in Portugal.
That news is a huge boost to everyone associated with Sunderland AFC, as the former Everton player was pivotal last season as we pushed towards promotion.
Could we see his return to first team action next Saturday against Heerenveen?