MOST Sunderland fans will probably admit they knew little of new signing Nyron Nosworthy when Mick McCarthy swooped to sign the tough tackling defender. But Nosworthy intends to put this right when the new campaign kicks off on August 13.

The 24-year-old free-transfer from Gillingham recently admitted his move to the Stadium of Light had come as a surprise.

He further revealed the contrast between the fortunes of the Southern minnows and North-East giants when describing his pre-season schedule.

Nosworthy confessed he got no further than Margate and the seaside during his seven years of pre-season friendlies at the Gills before jetting off on a Black Cats' adventure to the US and Canada.

He quipped: "I don't think many fans will know much about me. I hope they soon will do though.

"It's like I've just turned up for a job interview. I'm ready and I will show I'm the man for the job."

Unfortunately, Nosworthy looks set to miss out on this evening's friendly at Hull City through injury, so Sunderland fans will have to wait a little longer to see their new defender make his debut on British soil. The right back turned his ankle in the 0-0 draw with Portland Timbers at the weekend.

There was better news for McCarthy however, when skipper Gary Breen and Northern Ireland international George McCartney declared themselves fully fit to face the Tigers at the KC Stadium tonight.

Both players missed the tour of North America with knee and hamstring injuries but managed to come through a tough training session at Whitburn yesterday.

McCarthy said: "George and Gary trained with the rest of the lads and will be fine. We had an 11-a-side game and both played.

"They both had stayed behind to get fit for the (forthcoming) games against Hull, Sheffield United and AZ Alkmaar before the new season starts."

Tommy Miller is another who could feature in the game this evening. The midfielder has managed only 45 minutes of football since his summer switch from Ipswich Town due to a hamstring strain.

Defender Danny Collins has been pencilled in to play some part against Peter Taylor's side, who lost 2-0 to Barnsley on Monday night.

The Welshman has been hampered by a reccurrence of his Achilles injury but says he hopes to get a run out.

He said: "It feels a lot better and I hope to get 45 minutes in. It has been frustrating for me because you want to be involved in a pre-season trip.

"I still have a couple of weeks and three games to get fit before the start of the season."

Despite these minor injury setbacks the Black Cats boss insists his side are in good shape and hailed their trip overseas a success.

He said: "It's been great. We've played against some teams that are in advance of us in terms of fitness and sharpness.

" It gave us a good test and not only that, the 12 days we were away together enables players to settle in, especially the six new lads who came along."

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