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.
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"After the Birmingham game on the Friday night, the team will basically have a week's break to do what they want with their families, and to relax," said Mowbray. "Then we're going to go and do some warm-weather training out in Dubai.
"We're going to spend a week together which I believe is really important, because it's a chance to get the lads who joined us in the summer to spend 24 hours a day with us rather than four or five hours a day and then go off and do their own thing. It's important to be around each other 24 hours a day and to develop relationships and do things together.
"Obviously, we'll be training together a lot and the positive for me is that we will potentially have Ross Stewart, Danny Ballard, Aji Alese, and Lynden Gooch available. We can train together and work hard and then relax together as well, instead of disappearing off home.
"The plan is to do that, then come back and have a full week's training in preparation to play Millwall on December 3. The weather is still going to be pretty hot, but for me it is more about the bonding and the ability to be together.
"Breakfast, lunch, training, and then whatever we do in the evening - maybe watch the World Cup matches together. I think it'll be of benefit.
"Allied to some key players coming back to fitness, I think it can reboot our season and start winning some matches on a regular basis."
Sunderland have four more games still to play before the World Cup break, with a trip to Luton Town on Saturday followed by a midweek visit to Huddersfield Town, with Cardiff City due on Wearside next Saturday and then the game at Birmingham.
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