Sunderland will head to Dubai during next month's World Cup break for a training camp which Tony Mowbray hopes will help 'reboot' their season. The Championship will pause for four weeks after the round of fixtures on the weekend of November 12 and 13 while the World Cup group stages and the round of 16 are played.
Sunderland's game against Birmingham City at St Andrew's will be their final match before the pause, although that game has been moved to Friday, November 11, for live TV broadcast. And the Black Cats will also resume their campaign a week earlier than most, with their home game against Millwall - which was postponed in early September following the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II - rearranged for Saturday, December 3.
But between those two fixture, Mowbray has set out Sunderland's plans which include a week-long break for the players with their families at home, before the squad jets out to Dubai for a week-long training camp with a friendly game pencilled in, and then returns to begin the preparations for the game against Millwall. Mowbray says the team bonding element of the Dubai trip is crucial, and it will come at a time when players such as Ross Stewart, Dan Ballard, Aji Alese, and Lynden Gooch, should be returning to fitness in time for the season to resume.
