Sunderland will play their first of two games in Portugal this evening, kick-off 7:30pm, as they face Benfica B at the Estádio Municipal de Albufeira.
The Black Cats arrived at their European base on Wednesday morning ahead of a six-day camp which includes two friendlies, with C.F. Belenenses to come on Saturday at the same venue.
Now into the third week of a gruelling pre-season schedule, Jack Ross will be keen to step things up a level after last Thursday's first run-out saw the Lads secure a 2-0 win at South Shields.
Keen to fine-tune his preparations for the big kick-off in 16 days, the Scot will use the time away from the Academy of Light to build a greater bond between the players while integrating the new signings into the squad.
Stopper Lee Burge, Conor McLaughlin, Jordan Willis and Ruben Sammut have all travelled with the squad and could feature on Thursday night.
Aiden McGeady and Max Power have also been included in the 25-man squad despite recent injuries.
Young guns Benji Kimpioka, Jack Diamond and Anthony Patterson have also travelled to Portugal with the first-team squad.
As for Benfica B, this is their first pre-season game as their friendly against Championship club Birmingham City was cancelled earlier this month.
Renato Paiva's side, also know as the Eagles, finished fourth with 52 points from 34 games in the LigaPro – a large improvement on their previous campaign where they finished 13th.
Former Arsenal and England under-20 striker Chris Willock played a large part in that improvement as he netted 11 times.
DON'T MISS A KICK
We'll be streaming the game live on SAFSEE, with passes for both games available for just £7.50 - more details are available here.
Full coverage will be available on the club’s social media channels - @SunderlandAFC.
Our pre-season tour of Portugal is in association with UK Asbestos Specialists.
