Luke O'Nien feels that Sunderland's warm-weather training week has been successful, and he's feeling refreshed ahead of our Championship return against Millwall...
BENEFICIAL
"It's been really good. I think it's nice having everybody together, we have breakfast lunch and dinner together. It's been a really good week, got some minutes under the belt as well. The boys are looking good, I'm looking forward to getting back to England, seeing the family and starting training again in the build-up to the Millwall game.
GOOD EXPERIENCE
"I've never been to Dubai, so that's been really good! The staff have been great since the day they came in. But also what was nice was the game yesterday with the fans that live out here. I think some even made the trip to come and support the boys. The training was good as well so I appreciate them supporting us out here too."
CONVERSATIONS
"Just been getting to know them. Learning a little bit of why they're out here, some live out here so I was just finding out what they do. I asked them where they go on their holidays because they can't really get any hotter! It's just nice to connect with the fans, they invest a lot into us and we try to reciprocate that by giving our all on the pitch."
SQUAD GELLING
"Really good. We eat every meal together like I said, see each other all the time, train together and share a room. So you learn a little bit more about each other and those smaller details can benefit you as the season goes on. You get to know each other deep down, you know what makes them tick and you know what's going on in each other's lives. We're all human beings so we've connected with that side of it as well as the football side."
FOOTBALL FOCUS
"First and foremost our concentration is on football. We've got to come here and come back in a better condition than we came. Talking to everyone I think we all had a nice bit of time off with the family before we came here, to relax and reset. This week was all about building fitness, strength and focus because we've had a real good start to the season. An important win just before the break and now it's making sure we come back and as a group we know we've still got a lot more in us. It's making sure we build, which we have, and as soon as we step off that plane back in England we turn up the volume again and make sure when we play Millwall we're ready to go - for that game and the rest of the season."
IMPROVEMENTS MADE
"The gaffer always kept reiterating the reasons we're out here, the focus on what we're trying to do and trying to achieve. Even when we were doing set pieces in the game yesterday, it was like 'listen, we've got one eye on today's game and one eye on the game on the weekend'. So all focus has been on coming back to England as all round better people, better fitness, technical, tactical, all of it. I feel like we've achieved that so looking forward to getting home, seeing the family and ready to go again for a big week ahead."
FAMILY TIME
"Especially because my little girl is getting older, I'm face timing her all the time. I'm miss her - and the wife of course! It's difficult being away from the family for so long. I'm real close to them so it's been difficult but we've made the most out of our time out here. I'm looking forward to getting home and chasing the little one around."
