With three games in six days, Simon Grayson is hopeful his players will start to understand his blueprint for success.
- Follow the action of Sunderland's match at Hibernian this afternoon.
- Match preview: All you need to know about the Lads' trip to Easter Road.
- Tyias Browning's first interview in red and white!
The Black Cats take on Scottish Premier League side Hibernian this afternoon at Easter Road, kick-off 2pm, looking to build on Friday’s showing at Bury.
An inspired Josh Maja double helped Grayson get off to a winning start after the Lads had trailed 2-0 inside 27 minutes.
But steely grit and determination saw the Black Cats refuse to give up, and now Grayson has revealed with Hibs, Livingston and St Johnstone in quick succession it provides him with a chance to really get his message across to the players.
“It is good to see what the players can bring to the table,” he said.
“In the second half (at Bury), the younger players performed very well.
“Josh (Maja) took his goals very well, but there were some encouraging performances elsewhere too.
“(Bury was only the) first game of pre-season and it is out of the way now and we know there is a lot of hard work to get us to where we need to get to.
“The first 10 days of pre-season is all about the fitness work and getting the work into the legs of the players,” he continued.
“We have a game Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday so it is more about concentrating on the tactical stuff and how I want to play.”