AND he’s off on day two!

Saints legend Francis Benali is well on his way to scoring his best-ever goal – running between 20 Premier League football stadiums as he aims to raise £1m for charity.

The former left-back was waved off by friend and former team-mate Alan Shearer yesterday as he embarked on the epic 1,000-mile journey from Newcastle United’s St James’ Park stadium.

From there he made the short trek to Sunderland’s Stadium of Light before setting off toward his next stop, Hull City’s KC Stadium, which he is expected to reach tomorrow.

He will resume his challenge today after spending the night in Middlesbrough and wil take two days to cover the 90 miles to Hull.

As reported, Benali will be running up to 50 miles per day for 21 consecutive days as he aims to raise the cash for Cancer Research UK.

The challenge, which has been labelled Benali’s Big Run, will see the 45-year-old run to all 20 grounds over three weeks – finishing at |St Mary’s on September 13 as Saints play the Magpies in the league.

Benali raised more than £31,000 for the charity before even taking one stride in the challenge.

Event co-ordinator Karen Collier told the Daily Echo last night: “We are doing very well. We’ve had lovely weather for it and he’s done well.

“It was always going to be tough but everyone is getting into their stride. We had a really long journey up here and got in later than we expected, but he’s done fantastically well.

“We’ve had a lot of support from so many people.”

To donate, visit benalisbigrun.co.uk