ADAM MATTHEWS is hoping last night provided a sign of things to come after his first appearance in a Sunderland shirt coincided with the club’s opening pre-season victory.

Having moved to Wearside in a £2m move from Celtic last week, Matthews was a half-time substitute as the Black Cats overhauled a two-goal deficit to claim a 4-2 win over Darlington at Heritage Park.

The full-back set up a second-half goal for Danny Graham as he made a series of attacking surges down the right-hand side, with Emanuele Giaccherini’s double and a further strike from Connor Wickham ensuring Sunderland were not embarrassed following the concession of two goals in the opening 18 minutes.

While Dick Advocaat continues to pursue further additions ahead of the forthcoming tour of the United States, with Zenit St Petersburg defender Nicolas Lombaerts and Dynamo Kiev winger Jeremain Lens continuing to top the wanted list, Matthews and Sebastian Coates are currently the only two additions to the squad this summer.

Coates’ international programme means he was not involved in last night’s pre-season opener, but Matthews was delighted to shake off some of the inevitable summer rust less than a week after completing his move from Glasgow.

“It’s nice to have played that first game,” said the defender. “Training has been really good this week and I was looking forward to the game a lot. I didn’t expect to be starting, but I came on at half-time and enjoyed it, and I think the boys grew into the game. By the end, I thought we deserved to win.

“I think you could see from the way we started that we weren’t match sharp, but the longer the game went on, we grew more confident and we scored some good goals in the end.”

Matthews began pre-season training with Celtic, but Sunderland’s approach resulted in a whirlwind 48 hours that him swap the Scottish champions for the North-East.

“It all happened quite quickly,” he said. “My agent told me Sunderland were interested on the Wednesday, I went into training on the Thursday and heard nothing, and then on the Friday he texted me to say Celtic had accepted a bid. It was all very quick and it hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I’m enjoying it.

“When you’re younger, the Premier League is the league you want to play in. Hopefully, I can get an opportunity to do that and help Sunderland finish as high as they can.”

Matthews was sitting on the bench as the Wearsiders made a sloppy start to last night’s game, and while it is dangerous to read too much into pre-season matches, Advocaat will have been concerned to see his side’s defensive frailties reappear at Bishop Auckland.

At least his side’s spirit was also in evidence, however, as they overhauled a two-goal deficit to claim what was eventually a thoroughly deserved win.

Lee Cattermole was at fault for the first concession, dawdling inside his own half and conceding possession to Phil Turnbull before Stephen Thompson drilled home an excellent strike from 20 yards.

Liam Bridcutt was the culprit ten minutes later, dropping deep as Brown pushed forward to afford Adam Mitchell a clear run on goal as he latched on to Turnbull's long ball over the top of the defence. Jordan Pickford left his line to confront the midfielder, but Mitchell calmly lobbed into a vacant net.

Sunderland hadn’t created anything at that stage, but the visitors to Bishop Auckland’s Heritage Park ground pulled a goal back midway through the first half as Giaccherini, who missed the majority of last season with a combination of groin and ankle injuries, volleyed home Adam Johnson’s right-wing free-kick from close range.

The Black Cats levelled eight minutes into the second half with Matthews rolling the ball to Graham, who sashayed across the face of the area before trundling a low finish into the corner.

Darlington were given a chance to reclaim their lead from the penalty spot when George Brady felled David Dowson in the area, but Vito Mannone got down superbly to turn Thompson’s spot-kick around the post.

Six minutes later, and Sunderland were ahead for the first time. Johnson released Wickham down the right-hand side, and the half-time substitute lashed a fierce finish through the legs of Darlington goalkeeper Peter Jameson.

Giaccherini made it 4-2 with his second goal of the night midway through the second half, drilling home from the edge of the area after impressive approach play from Johnson.

Darlington (4-4-2): Jameson; Brown (Trialist 74), Burgess (White 46), Hunter (Trialist 51), Galbraith (Watson 46); Mitchell (Youhill 46), Nowakowski (Portas 46), Turnbull (Scott 57), Thompson; Dowson (Trialist 57), Cartman (Trialist 57).

Sunderland (4-4-2): Pickford (Mannone 46); Jones (Robson 74), Brown (Brady 46), Beadling, van Aanholt (Matthews 46); Johnson, Bridcutt (Smith 74), Cattermole (Buckley 46), Giaccherini; Defoe (Wickham 46), Graham.