Sunderland captain John O'Shea has described manager Paolo Di Canio's approach to pre-season training as a revolution, as the Italian meticulously prepares for a first full Premier League campaign.
Di Canio took his players to Italy for a 12-day training camp, before travelling to Hong Kong for the Barclays Asia Trophy last month.
O'Shea believes that the coach's intense approach, which includes leading double strength and conditioning sessions in the morning, will bear fruit when the Mackems face Fulham this weekend.
He told The Guardian: "We went away to Italy for 11 or 12 days and then Hong Kong. Italy was a beautiful location and beautiful weather, and I even got to enjoy a few scoops of ice cream.
"He's been hands-on, he doesn't like to be called the manager, he's the coach. He's involved in everything, even some of the strength sessions. He keeps himself in good nick and wants to make sure that, if the lads are struggling, they see him doing it. If he can do it, that's a good guideline. It's what he believes in and, you know, it's working.
"It was two training sessions in the morning and then plenty of rest and nice food. Then we'd go again late in the afternoon. We probably played less games than usual for pre-season but we worked that bit longer on shape, balance of play and different things. When we came back in for pre-season the manager said, 'It's a revolution'. It definitely feels exciting, it's definitely something to look forward to. I think we'll have a better balanced squad and better competition for places this season, and that's the key for the team to do better."
The Blacks Cats brought in their 10th new face of the close season yesterday, completing a season-long loan deal for Czech Republic defender Ondrej Celustka.
