Sunderland’s players are fit and firing after an intense opening to pre-season, but John O’Shea is refusing to underestimate the importance of what’s to come ahead of the Lads’ opening-day clash with Derby County.
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The Black Cats have blitzed an intense pre-season so far with a five-day training camp preceding five games within the space of two weeks, as trips to Bury, Hibernian, Livingston, St Johnstone and Hartlepool United paved the foundations for the 2017-18 season.
Three games remain before a Sky Bet Championship opener at the Stadium of Light, with a trip to Bradford City next on the agenda for Simon Grayson’s men.
And speaking to safc.com, O’Shea explained the importance of a successful pre-season.
“Bradford have made some good signings and we know they have some good players, so it’ll be a good test for us after the win over Hartlepool.
“The important thing with pre-season, whether it be your first or your 19th, is to get it done and get it done well because it puts you in great shape to cope with the demands.
“If you can get the ground work done in the first five to six weeks it’ll put you in a good position physically and mentally to cope with what’s to come,” continued O’Shea.
“The mood is positive and it’s always good when you’re seeing new lads coming through the door to increase the quality and competition within the squad.
“They [the new signings] know the manager so they know what he’s looking for and that’ll help him settle in, but they also know the players here from other clubs and international football so they can really hit the ground running.
“If we can we want to bounce back as quickly as possible because as a club we want to be back up with the big boys in the Premier League, but we know the Championship is competitive and we have to be ready to that.
“The manager is stressing that to us because he’s had that experience of the league and he knows what’s required to be successful, so we have to take that on board as quickly as possible and look forward to it.”