Luke O'Nien believes Sunderland will improve in the second half of the season as the Black Cats prepare to resume their Championship campaign following the World Cup break. Sunderland have made a broadly positive return to the second tier and went into the break, which came just short of the midpoint of the season, sitting in 15th place in the table despite having played one game fewer than most of their rivals and despite the fact that they have been hampered by injuries to key players.
Tony Mowbray's men spent last week in Dubai for a warm weather training camp, but resume training on Wearside this week as they prepare for Saturday's game against Millwall at the Stadium of Light. O'Nien says the trip has been a useful bonding session and the Black Cats will reap the benefits throughout the remainder of the campaign, while the return of players such as Aji Alese, Lynden Gooch, and Dennis Cirkin will also strengthen their hand.
"First and foremost, our whole concentration is on football," said O'Nien. "We had to come here and go back in a better condition than when we came.
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"We all had a nice bit of time off before we came out here, time with the family, time to relax and reset.
"Then the week in Dubai has been all about building fitness, building strength, and building focus.
"We've had a really good start to the season and then an important win [at Birmingham City] just before the break.
"As a group, we know we have a lot more in us still.
"It's a case of making sure that as soon as we are back in England, we turn up the volume again, and make sure we are ready to go and to play Millwall - and not just for that game, but for the rest of the season.
"The gaffer kept reiterating why we are out here, focusing on what we are trying to do and what we are trying to achieve.
"All the focus has been on making sure that we come back to England and we are better all-round, better people, better fitness, better tactically and technically, and I feel that we have achieved that."
Sunderland played a friendly against Al-Shabab on Friday, winning 1-0 in a game that became heated at times.
O'Nien said of the trip: "It's been really good.
"It's been nice to have everybody together, to have breakfast, lunch and dinner together, and to get some minutes under the belt as well.
"The boys have been looking good and are looking forward to getting home and seeing their families and start training for the build-up to the Millwall game."
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