Sunderland manager Lee Johnson feels his side are nowhere near their peak ahead of the weekend clash with Bolton Wanderers.
The Black Cats are second in the League One table having lost just once so far this season and reached the fourth round of the Carabao Cup in midweek with a win over Wigan.
Sunderland are among the favourites to reach the Championship and Bolton will be hoping they are involved in the shake-up for promotion with Wanderers currently eighth, four points off the summit.
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Saturday's game in the north east will be a useful barometer for Ian Evatt's side who are back at this level following promotion last season.
But Johnson, who made a host of changes for the midweek cup tie, is confident there is plenty more to come from his outfit.
"The thing is, we can only get better," he said after the 2-0 win over Wigan on Tuesday night.
""We haven't peaked, nowhere near.
"It'll probably take until game 15 or 20 because we recruited late.
"What I think it has proven is that it is worth waiting for the quality, and of course that a good pre-season for the ones that were here, because they can carry the others at times."
Sunderland made eight changes for the tie with on-loan Everton man Nathan Broadhead scoring his first goal in the first half and Luke O'Nien adding the second after the interval.
