Former Sunderland hero Julio Arca is a huge admirer of the brand of attacking football his old club is playing under Tony Mowbray - and hopes his South Shields side can pick up some pointers this weekend. Arca is gearing up for his first home game in charge of the Mariners, having succeeded another Black Cats legend in Kevin Phillips at the helm of the newly-promoted National League North side over the summer.
And that first home game sees Sunderland visit a sold-out 1st Cloud Arena on Saturday lunchtime, with Mowbray's side facing their first pre-season outing while Shields will be playing their second friendly having beaten Newton Aycliffe 2-0 in midweek. "This will be my first home game in charge and it is great to come up against Sunderland and to see Tony," said Arca, who became a crowd favourite during his six years on Wearside as a player before leaving for Middlesbrough where he later played under Mowbray.
"I'm sure we'll have our highest-ever gate, beating the record against Forest Green in the FA Cup first round last season, so it will not only be good from an opposition point of view but also financially. Ideally, I would have liked to have played them later in pre-season but the game was already agreed.
