What Sunderland fans should be looking out for as the 2025/26 campaign kicks off at South Shields

Sunderland return to action for the first time since their win at Wembley on Saturday afternoon.

The traditional pre-season double header will look a little different this year, due to Gateshead having issues with their newly relaid pitch. As such, a development side will head to Hebburn Town to face Gateshead in the first fixture of the day before a senior team takes on South Shields later in the day.

With fans getting their first look at how the squad is developing since that win over Sheffield United, here's a few key things to look out for...

Will there be any Sunderland debuts?

Sunderland have made an excellent start to the transfer window, securing six new additions even before the start of the pre-season campaign. One of those is of course very well known to Sunderland fans, with Enzo Le Fée's loan from AS Roma converted into a permanent deal. As things stand, most of Sunderland's other five signings will be unable debut on Saturday. Chemsdine Talbi and Simon Adingra signed in the latter stages of this week, while Noah Sadiki's is still waiting for international clearance Reinildo Mandava has not yet linked up with his team mates due to his season being extended at the Club World Cup with Atletico Madrid. Debuts for any of those players at South Shields therefore look unlikely and the trip to Portugal might be a more realistic target, but Sunderland have confirmed that Habib Diarra could play against South Shields.

Ahmed Abdullahi has been training with the group this week after overcoming a groin issue that severely hampered his first season on Wearside, and could be involved here as a result. It would be a debut of sorts for the striker, who was unable to play any senior minutes last season following his arrival from Gent. Abdullahi showed encouraging goalscoring form when available for the U21s last season and will be hoping to build some momentum through pre-season.

Key clues as to what the injury picture looks like at Sunderland

Saturday's game will be the first opportunity to get a fuller picture of what the injury situation at the club is heading towards the start of the Premier League season. Romaine Mundle has been pictured in training this week after overcoming a hamstring injury to play a part in Sunderland's play-off campaign, which is a very encouraging sign.

The club confirmed on Friday evening that Luke O’Nien, Dennis Cirkin, Aji Alese and Leo Hjelde were all facing spells on the sidelines after surgery - and indeed will all miss the first three games of the Premier League season. Chris Rigg was not mentioned in the statement, perhaps offering some positive clues as to his progress in returning from an ankle problem that ruled him out of the U19 European Championships earlier this summer.

Sunderland should welcome back some long-term absentees on Saturday. As well as Abdullahi, Niall Huggins could also be in contention to make his first appearance in a long while having been training with the team in the early stages of pre-season. Jenson Seelt has also been training in pre-season, and so should able to play some part.

Can Nectar Triantis make an impact and what position will he play in

Triantis has been back training with Sunderland after a hugely impressive campaign on loan at Hibs, where he was an integral part of their third-place finish. Hibs would love to him back and there are numerous other clubs who would be interested in signing him, but Triantis is keen to see if he has a short-term future on Wearside first. Saturday will be first chance in a game environment to catch the eye of his head coach, and it will be interesting over the coming weeks to see just how much he has grown as result of that loan move.

And while it of course won't be definitive as to the plan going forward, it will be interesting to see where he plays. Sunderland signed Triantis as a central defender but he has played his best football at Hibs in holding midfield.

Can any of Sunderland's fringe players from last season catch the eye?

With Sunderland’s new signings unlikely to be involved, this represents an opportunity for a handful of players to make an impact and catch the eye of Le Bris building into the next stage of pre season. The likes of Alan Browne and Milan Aleksic will be hoping to benefit from a strong pre-season and this is the first chance to impress.

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