'Exceptional' - Sporting director Kristjaan Speakman reveals Sunderland pre-season Spain plans

Sunderland are to head to Spain this summer for their pre-season training camp, it has been confirmed.

The Black Cats will head to the Costa Blanca on Monday 15 July and spend one week in Alicante and play two friendly games while over there.

Sunderland, who travel to Norwich City in the Championship this weekend, are aiming to finish the season strongly and sneak a play-off spot under interim head coach Mike Dodds though that is currently an uphill task given current form.

Plans are already in place for when the new manager takes charge in the summer with details of their training camp now released. Sunderland will be playing some friendly games during their training camp and the details of those will be announced in due course.

A club statement read: "The Lads will depart for Costa Blanca on Monday 15 July and spend one week in Alicante, which is located in the Valencian Community on the Mediterranean coast.

"SAFC will face two fixtures overseas and these are currently scheduled to take place on Saturday 20 July and Sunday 21 July, although fans are advised that these dates are subject to change."

Sporting director Kristjaan Speakman said: "Following last summer's tour of North America, we are looking forward to taking the team back to mainland Europe this July. The facilities in place for this trip are exceptional and this will not only provide a great experience for our players, but also act as an excellent platform for the team ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.

"We hope this will be an accessible trip for many of our fans and that they can attend to support the team, whilst also enjoying the region. In addition, we also plan to host a range of activities during pre-season – locally and overseas – to bring our fans closer to our team.”

Supporters can find out more about supporter travel packages on the club website here. Sunderland last travelled to Spain in 2002 under the management of Peter Reid, facing Sevilla and Algeciras CF.