Sunderland boss Mel Reay discusses pre-season so far, recruitment plans and the Championship season ahead

The turnaround from having their promotion application accepted had been tight, and the work needed to be ready significant.

Most encouraging was the team's all-round development through the latter stages of the campaign, seen not just in the league but in taking WSL side Birmingham to extra time in the FA Cup as one high-profile example.

Mel Reay's side are back at the Academy of Light ahead of the new campaign and the goal is to try and maintain that progress.

The Black Cats began their preparations at the Academy of Light on Sunday with an encouraging 3-1 win over SWPL side Motherwell.

Grace Ede and Abbey Joice finished off two incisive moves with excellent finishes either side of half time, before Neve Herron's dominance at corner kicks was finally rewarded with a deft headed goal at the front post.

Head coach Mel Reay saw plenty to work on but plenty to be pleased with as the programme steps up again this week, Sunderland facing Newcastle United on Thursday night and Hibernian on Sunday.

"The first game back is always a tough one, I think we've had 12 weeks now without a game," Reay told The Echo.

"So it's really pleasing, we've done well to meet some of the things we wanted to focus on. We had some really good spells, some rusty spells but that's what pre-season is all about.

"We feel like we're in a good place, it's just about building that match fitness up.

"It's a tough week for the players with three games, and it's just all about managing their minutes and making sure that they're all ready for the 21st."

Sunderland will head into the new Championship campaign with the benefit of last season's acclimatisation under their belt, as well as the addition of some welcome experience in the transfer market.

Nicki Gears and Abby Holmes were unavailable on Sunday but Tyler Dodds featured and Reay is hopeful that the incomings are far from complete.

Reay is content with how preparations are going but it is also undeniable that the Championship is going to be just as competitive this season, if not even more so.

More teams have turned professional, and the standard continues to rise.

It represents a challenge, even if Reay has total belief in the programme in place for her squad. The goal, then, will be to make steady progress. To consolidate last season's work and to try and build on it, both in results and in performances more generally.

"It's going to be another tough season," Reay says.

"Obviously our target is to do better than last season, we want to show improvements. We have our own in-house targets and they've been moved, the benchmark has gone up from where it was last season.

"We want to be better overall as a team, and the players have their own individual plans as well. We're hoping for a positive season.

"If you look at the division, more teams have turned professional and gone full time which is another challenge for us to make sure that we keep the players are fresh and recover well, so that they can perform to those high levels on a Sunday," she adds.

"We've got a good programme, we are professional in what we carry out and it's a very good set-up. It's a great environment and that's what Steph [Libbey] and I pride ourselves on, we pride ourselves on giving the players everything they need.

"The only downside really is that they don't get enough recovery, because they have to turn around quickly for work.

"That's something that we have to juggle as a staffing unit to make sure they're ready. But I'm happy with the squad, there'll be a few more additions hopefully before the start of the season.

"Let's see how we go, we're hoping for a successful season."

The experienced additions to the squad will help bolster a side in which a number of youngsters will be looking to kick on for a hugely impressive first season in the Championship.Ede and Herron score on Sunday, while there are impressive performances from Holly Manders and numerous others.

Katy Watson leads the line with pace and endeavour, much to Reay's encouragement. Though the departure of Maria Farrugia in the summer means an important part of last season's frontline has moved on, the summer business should add a new threat to the team that held its own last time around.

"It's important that we're patient with them," Reay says.

"They are really young but they're here because they're good enough.

"They've shown glimpses today, it's the physicality of the game where they need to be given time to develop. It's about me picking the right moments, when to dip them in and when to protect them.

"But you see there today, they've had a good run-out, Grace has scored, Katy has put a 90-minute shift in there and is absolutely on her last legs. She covers a lot of ground.

"We've added Tyler in as well who has got pace and Nicki Gears has got real good pace, so when they all feature later on in pre-season we'll see what we're really about."

Sunderland's players finish the game before heading into a series of punishing sprints up and down the Academy of Light turf, a sign that though the new season is drawing ever close, there is a lot of hard work still ahead.