Sunderland’s first team enjoy snowball fight with academy

After picking up just their second win of the Championship season last weekend, Sunderland’s first team were in buoyant mood as they trained on Thursday.

Sunderland overcame Burton Albion 2-0 last Saturday to lift them off the bottom of the table and give Chris Coleman his first win as manager of the Black Cats.

And it came as no surprise that the mood in the camp was very high as they played around in the snowy conditions up north on Thursday afternoon. 

John O’Shea can be seen readying to launch a snowball at the youngsters before training 

The Sunderland squad were in high spirits as they geared up for their clash against Reading

After getting ambushed with snowballs by the academy players en route to training, Sunderland’s first team decided to take matters into their own hands by fighting back. 

Experience head John O’Shea can be seen launching snowballs at the youngsters while his team-mates either join in or watch on at the Academy of Light. 

Meanwhile, while the first team went off to train indoors, the academy players decided to continue to make the most of the freezing conditions by building a giant snowman.

Chris Coleman appeared in a more concentrated mood than his first team players on Thursday

Sunderland’s academy players pictured building a giant snowman in the freezing conditions

Coleman’s men are currently gearing up for their Championship clash against Reading on Saturday afternoon at the Stadium of Light.

Their victory over fellow league strugglers Burton has moved them up to 22nd in the table after 19 matches, two points adrift of safety. 

And they will be desperate to get a result against Reading before they take on Championship leaders Wolves the weekend after. 

Aiden McGeady and his fellow team-mates trained inside following their snowball fight

Sunderland will be desperate to pick up more points against Reading before playing Wolves