Jordan Pickford is enjoying the rigorous training programme Sunderland have been put through so far in pre-season.
The Black Cats are in the final leg of their 10-day training camp in Austria and will return to Wearside on Saturday, ahead of their opening two pre-season friendlies against Hartlepool United and Rotherham United.
With three intense sessions a day, the Lads have been put through a variety of drills which has seen them undertake water-based activities, bike rides, small sided games and running exercises.
While temperatures of over 30 degrees have cranked the heat up in each of the sessions, Pickford has revealed he has enjoyed the stellar programme and is now targeting some game time over the Lads' six friendlies.
“All the sessions we’ve had so far in Austria have been good and each of them have been different,” he smiled. “This morning with Tucks we were working on our sharpness and getting back in the swing of things after not playing any games for a few weeks.
“We’re doing a lot of power work, jumping and working with different members of the backroom team – Mike Clegg and David Binningsley – to help with our overall fitness."
He continued: “I’m hoping to get some game time during pre-season. I’m just going to keep my head down and get stuck in and then if I’m ever called-upon I’ll take my chance to impress.
“We’ve got six games across pre-season, hopefully out of those I’ll get a few chances to play. That’ll be good for me and it’s what I’d like to take from pre-season, it definitely helped me last year.”
