Tony Mowbray intends to mix things up as Sunderland begin their pre-season programme with a friendly double-header this afternoon. The Black Cats take on Julio Arca's South Shields at a sold-out 1st Cloud Arena in a 12.30pm kick-off, before making the short journey to the International Stadium to face Gateshead at 4pm.
With two games on the same day, Mowbray will split his first-team squad and play a combination of senior players and academy player in each of the games. The games will likely offer Sunderland fans their first chance to see new signings Jobe Bellingham and Luis Semedo in action, although Jenson Seelt will miss out through injury and it remains to be seen whether Nectarios Triantis features as he has been back in Australia and it is not clear when he was due to return to Wearside.
Mowbray said: "Our first competitive fixtures are this weekend - South Shields and Gateshead on the same day. We'll mix the teams up and, for us, it is about fitness.
READ MORE: Sunderland supporters give seal of approval to summer intake amid Jobe Bellingham buzz
"They are more competitive games against local teams, they will want to do well and there will be crowds in. There will be some pretty inexperienced players playing alongside some players who played a lot of football last season.
"It's mainly about getting 90 minutes into their legs. The staff will watch both games, which we can do because of the timings."
After this weekend's games, Sunderland will jet off to the USA on Wednesday to continue their pre-season. They will face San Antonio FC in Texas next weekend, followed by friendlies against New Mexico United in Albuquerque and North Carolina FC in Raleigh.
Mowbray admits that those US sides are something of an unknown quantity, but says the games are more important as a means of building fitness rather than in terms of results. He said: "The games over in America, I don't really know what to expect.
"I don't get overly-anxious about these games because it is about our team. We could win 5-0 or lose 5-0, and I will be judging our team on their organisation and on how they play the way we are asking them to play and their application in doing that.
"Don't let's worry too much about results through pre-season, let's get the players fit and up to speed."
