Friendlies are fine as Hibs eye full fitness

But the midfielder insisted taking on the star-studded English Premier League outfit can play a crucial part in preparing Colin Calderwood's squad for the remainder of the campaign.

Calderwood himself has declared the visit of the Black Cats to Easter Road was intended as part of Hibs' pre-season preparation, the Edinburgh club taking advantage of SPL dispensation following the earlier-than-usual start to proceedings in Scotland to stage the challenge match.

And Thornhill, pictured below, believes 90 minutes against a side which next Saturday will be playing Liverpool at Anfield can help bring he and his team-mates up to full speed. The former Nottingham Forest ace said: "We've come back much earlier than usual so we are not going to be as fit as we would like to be. Today will give us another chance to get 90 minutes under our belts and to get our fitness levels up before going down to Kilmarnock next week. I don't think we've had as many games as we would have liked, the gaffer has been switching things around but hopefully we'll soon be up to where we want to be and today can only help."

The visit of Steve Bruce's side is the second such friendly Hibs have undertaken since the serious action began, their opening day defeat by Celtic being followed by a trip to face Blackpool. "It's a bit weird but we have to get our heads round it and treat it like any other game."

Thornhill accepted that having beaten Inverness last weekend, some might have seen the scheduled SPL match against St Johnstone, the fixture having been rearranged for the end of next month to accommodate today's game, as a better option, the chance to put more points on the board. But he argued that the benefits of being exposed to Premier League-quality players would be of long-standing value to Calderwood's young squad. He said: "It will be a great experience. We don't have the biggest squad at the moment and we are going to need the younger players so matches like this and the one at Blackpool will be good for them. The gaffer has shown he won't hesitate to play them but they need as much experience as they can get."

Bruce has spent some 26.5 million in signing ten players but Thornhill insists he and his team-mates should relish the challenge of pitting their wits against a big-money side rather than worry how much each of their opponents cost.

He said: "It's a fact of life that you need to spend that sort of money. The Premier League is getting better and better, the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea are spending big so you have to spend if you are to have any chance of competing.

"The English clubs have the money so they are going to spend it. Sunderland struggled a bit towards the end of last season so Steve Bruce obviously feels he needs to spend quite a lot, which he has done."

Today's match could be billed as the haves against the have-nots, with only Martin Scott - who will miss the clash through injury - having cost Hibs a transfer fee. But Thornhill insisted that fact was irrelevant.

He said: "We brought in a few players including myself in January and we adapted quite well so it will be interesting to see how all the new arrivals at Sunderland will adapt.

"I'd expect most, if not all of them to play against us as they are only a week away from the start of their season so it will be a chance for us to prove we can cope with the big-money signings. You never know, have a good game and Steve Bruce might come knocking on the door at Easter Road with a couple of million."

Thornhill believes Bruce and his players will be pleasantly surprised - as he has been - by Scottish football following his move from Forest. He said: "It's hard to compare the SPL with the English top flight. However, the facilities at Hibs are as good as any. I got quite a surprise when I came to discover such a good training ground, while we also have a stadium which holds 21,000."