Sunderland defender Patrick van Aanholt has revealed that the friendly against Scottish League side Hamilton last Friday allowed manager Dick Advocaat to experiment with his team.

Sunderland's game against Arsenal last weekend was postponed due to the Gunners' participation in the FA Cup semi final.

To keep up their match fitness levels, Sunderland participated in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Hamilton and Van Aanholt has revealed the match proved to be beneficial.

The Dutchman said: "It was good for us to try new things. It's the strength of the manager he's been at lots of different clubs playing different systems. "I think it's good for us to try a new system and see what happens but it's up to the manager if he wants to do it. If he does it and we perform on the pitch, fine."