Phil Smith's tour diary: See the brilliant scenes as Sunderland fans and players come together

It was an intense session for Sunderland's players this morning, the ball almost constantly in play with the sun beating down.

There are wildfire warnings out in Portugal this week, which gives you an indication of just how hot it is as the Black Cats step up their preparations.

This evening it had cooled just a little, and as a nod to the disappointment of only being able to watch 45 minutes against Rangers on Saturday, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus emailed those who had bought a ticket inviting them to come and watch the second session.

It was a good turnout as Alex Neil split his squad into three teams. First up was a dribbling race, the teams asked to drive through a number of cones before firing a return pass to the next player in line. Next they had to race back and pass the ball through the legs of their team, before the third leg which required keepy-ups all the way to the far cone before the reverse pass.

In the end team red were the dominant force. They had the ace in the pack for this particular skillset, with Patrick Roberts not unsurprisingly establishing an early lead.

The likes of Jack Diamond and Lynden Gooch backed him up strongly, and while Bailey Wright had one or two early issues with the keepy-up, he recovered. Star of the show was Corry Evans, who quickly established the secret was to get from a to be with just a couple of volleys. A smart footballer, though we knew that already.

Their win was not without controversy, team yellow furious that Diamond had appeared to stray out the lines on his run, only for Neil to wave play on. There were also some question marks whether team red had, as instructed, lifted the ball above their head correctly at the end of the drill.

Their pleas were to no avail, and to add insult to injury it was team blue who snatched the final drill. When it comes to headers and volleys, Dan Ballard has already established himself as a man to have on your side.

Next up was a rondo-based challenge. One team was placed in the middle of three boxes, tasked with disrupting the other two. In each of the end boxes the goal for the side was to complete five uninterrupted passes, before fizzing a pass to the other end without it being intercepted.

Despite an early lead (and yet more claims of bias on Neil's part), team red were unable to hold on to their advantage as team blue, led by Alex Pritchard

Honourable mentions to Lynden Gooch and Dan Neil, who both played the destroyer role in the middle boxes to perfection.

This drill was noticeably more intense, Neil straight on any player whose concentration he felt had dipped.

After shooting practice it was over to meet the fans, Ross Stewart given a special rendition of 'Happy Birthday'.

Through the full repertoire of songs we went ahead of a group photo, including a raucous 'Sunlun 'til we die'. Then it was down to join the players on the pitch for a lengthy debrief.

Lovely stuff.

The Sunderland Echo's coverage of SAFC in Portugal is brought to you in association with Flex Joinery. Visit www.flexjoinery.co.uk for further details.