Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio has admitted that there is "a lot of work" ahead of the start of the season and the home clash against Fulham.

The new set of fixtures were announced yesterday morning, but Di Canio said that getting the new players comfortable during pre-season is the current focus.

"I'm very excited and of course it's fantastic to start at home in front of our own fans," Sky Sports News quotes Di Canio as saying. "However, there is a lot of work to do between now and Fulham. There are many steps.

"We have to integrate the new players into the team, continue to build and develop our squad and complete our pre-season training. There is a lot of hard work but we are ready for it."

Sunderland finish the 2013-14 season with a home game against Swansea City.