BURNLEY wide boy Ross Wallace can’t wait to step out against his old club Sunderland this afternoon as the Clarets wrap-up their pre-season campaign at Turf Moor.

The 26-year-old Scotsman played more than 50 games for the Black Cats prior to leaving the Stadium of Light for Preston North End in 2009.

And he says he is relishing the game against Steve Bruce’s men, who have splashed the cash over the summer with a host of signings.

That is likely to lead to a huge following travelling down to Lancashire from the North East – and Wallace reckons that is also something to look forward to.

“I had some good times at Sunderland with a promotion as well and playing in the Premier League,” said Wallace.

“I had some good times there. The fans are brilliant. They’ll come and make a good atmosphere and hopefully plenty of Burnley fans turn up as well.

“Sunderland’s a massive club. We were getting about 40,000 every week in the Championship, which is incredible at that level.

“They have a great following. Even in away games they were always packed out.”

But as much as Wallace is keen to enjoy the experience, he knows it is more important for the Clarets to tinker on their own set-up ahead of the Championship kick off against Watford a week today.

“We’ve got through the hard times of pre-season – the running and the hard slogs,” he added.

“It won’t be long before we’re working on team shape and how we’re going to prepare for the start of the season.”