Why Sunderland will be training at Manchester United during their North West double header against Blackpool and Wigan Athletic

The Black Cats face two back-to-back away games in the region over the festive period after hosting Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day.

First up is a trip to the DW Stadium to face Wigan Athletic on Thursday, December 29, before returning three days later to face Michael Appleton’s side at Bloomfield Road.

But instead of returning to Wearside, Mowbray’s squad will remain in the North West while using Man Utd’s training ground in-between games.

Mowbray told our sister paper the Sunderland Echo: “We've got to go to the North West on the back of the home game against Blackburn Rovers game and we're going to stay over for four days between Christmas and the New Year.

“It's probably not ideal for family life, but the fixtures have thrown up Wigan and Blackpool and the correct thing to do is to stay there and rest properly, otherwise we would be getting back at 2am – like the fans will, unfortunately.

“But then do you bring the players in and train the next day? And then the very next day you would be coming in and getting back on the bus to go another three-and-a-half hours over to the North West.

"We feel it is best to stay over there and we've asked Manchester United if we can use their training facilities, and that's what we'll do."