Sunderland will kick off their Championship campaign against one of boss Tony Mowbray's former clubs Ipswich Town at the Stadium of Light on the opening weekend in front of the Sky Sports cameras. The Black Cats will have to wait an extra day to get out of the starting blocks, with Kieran McKenna's newly-promoted Tractor Boys - who finished runners-up in League One last season - set to travel to Wearside on Sunday, August 6, with kick-off at 5pm.
Sunderland will then face a Carabao Cup first round tie in midweek, with the draw for that competition set to take place this afternoon. And then they will make an early return to Deepdale to take on Preston North End, where they clinched a play-off spot on the final day of last season, to face Ryan Lowe's side on Saturday, August 12.
August is rounded off with a home game against Rotherham United on Saturday, August 19, and then a trip to the CBS Arena to take on last season's losing play-off finalists Coventry City a week later. Sunderland's final game before the September international break sees them face their first real test of the season when Southampton, who were relegated from the Premier League last season, visit the Stadium of Light on Saturday, September 2.
