The Mail's Philip Buckingham is with Hull City at their pre-season camp in Portugal.
If a friendly with Sheffield Wednesday could be best described as a pedestrian affair on Saturday night, Hull City can expect an altogether tougher challenge against SC Braga this evening.
The Portuguese outfit finished fourth in their domestic top flight last season and famously gave Manchester United the fright of their lives in last season's Champions League.
A Brazilian-influenced Braga side led 2-0 at Old Trafford last October, through a brace from captain Alan, before United eventually turned the contest around to win 3-2 in the group stages.
Well ahead of the Tigers in their pre-season build-up, Braga have already brushed Sheffield Wednesday aside 3-1 last week. Tonight they will hunt a second English scalp when City provide the opposition back at the Estadio Municipal De Albufeira.Gruelling 100km in the tank for super-fit Tigers
Hull City's week in Portugal comes to an end tomorrow and they return home with plenty of mileage on the body clocks.
After an eighth consecutive day of training yesterday, there were members of the Tigers' squad that were pushing the 90-kilometre mark during pre-season.
Midfielders David Meyler, Tom Cairney and George Boyd are amongst those topping the distance charts, with GPS devices worn on the backs of every player for every session.
Tonight's friendly with SC Braga is guaranteed to see some individuals top 100 kilometres before heading back to England tomorrow morning, much to the satisfaction of head fitness coach Will Royall.
Should City fall short on the opening weekend against Chelsea, it will surely not be for the lack of fitness.Hobson's choice is fit for biggest top-flight stars
For the second year in succession, City's training camp in Portugal has been organised by a familiar face from their history.
Former defender Gary Hobson, who served the Tigers between 1991 and 1996, has been the man in charge of City's time in the Algarve, lining up the two friendly games and all their training facilities.
Hull-born Hobson, 40, now runs a successful travel business for sporting clubs and includes Hull KR and Hull FC as his winter clients.
The build-up to the football season has seen Hobson particularly busy and he has overseen the training camps of Newcastle United, Sheffield Wednesday, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest and City in the last month.
