This is what Sunderland's other relegation rivals have been up to this week

Sunderland's New York trip caused plenty of debate, but of course these breaks at this time of the year are nothing new.
Allardyce cancelled a trip to DubaiAllardyce cancelled a trip to Dubai
Allardyce cancelled a trip to Dubai

Big Sam took the Black Cats this time last year, which is where next opponents Everton are currently based.

They beat Sven-Goran Eriksson's Chinese outfit, Shenzhen, 4-0, today.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But what about Sunderland's other relegation rivals? We catch up with what they've been up to this week.

Bournemouth

The Cherries have opened up their contacts book and landed themselves an impressive destination for a four-day camp.

They played Real Madrid in a pre-season friendly at the Vitality Stadium not so long ago and now the favour has been returned, with Eddie Howe's side jetting out to the Spanish capital.

They're making use of the extraordinary facilities there, Madrid's training facility around three times the size of Vatican City.

Swansea City

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Swans have recently made some significant improvements to their South Wales training facility and are making full use of them this week.

Paul Clement has had an outstanding start to his managerial career and wants to keep the momentum going on the training ground.

No wonder, next up for them is Antonio Conte's all-conquering Chelsea.

Middlesbrough & Leicester City

Both sides are in FA Cup action this weekend, with Middlesbrough at home to Oxford United.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

They did, however, head out to Spain for a training camp last week, just before their impressive 0-0 draw with Everton.

Leicester have a tricky-looking trip to Milwall, before playing Jorge Sampaoli's quite outstanding Sevilla in the Champions League next week. They are struggling and you suspect Claudio Ranieri would love a break to try and stop the rot.

Hull City

New boss Marco Silva is on familiar territory as he has taken his side to Portugal for a week's worth of training.

Former Sunderland full-back Ahmed Elmohamady has been chatting about the camp: "The manager can get everyone together for a few days before a big game against Burnley and we’re all looking forward to it. It is important that we all come back at 100% to take on Burnley and we will be ready for the challenges to come in the next few months.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It also gives us an extended amount of time to understand more what the new manager wants from us and hopefully this can only benefit us. It’s going to be a tough run for us both mentally and physically when we get back so we need to prepare as best as we can.

“It’s good to go away with the new lads and the new manager to get the opportunity to show him what I can offer the team. I only had two days back before the Arsenal game with the manager so hopefully this extra time will let me get used to the new system and the new style of play Marco wants us to play with.

“The spirit is high in the camp and I could see more confidence in the side when I came back from the African Cup of Nations. The spirit between us will be important for the rest of the season and hopefully the trip to Portugal will help us get to know each other even better.”

Crystal Palace

All is not well at Selhurst Park.

Big Sam had planned another trip to Dubai, as he had done with Sunderland last year, but that was cancelled after the 4-0 drubbing at the Black Cats' hands a fortnight ago.

Chairman Steve Parish went in to the dressing room to speak to the Eagles players after the defeat, suggesting a fair amount of concern about the direction of the side.