Stoke City Head Coach Steven Schumacher says his side gained the required benefits from their pre-season opener at Chester FC on Thursday evening.
Emre Tezgel was one of three City Academy players to feature on the night and added a first-half brace before Niall Ennis secured a 3-0 win at the Deva Stadium.
Summer signings Viktor Johansson, Ben Gibson and Eric Bocat all made their first appearances in red and white as 22 players added 45 minutes to their workload, eleven days since Schumacher’s side returned to Clayton Wood to prepare for the new campaign.
“I was really pleased with the night’s work,” City’s Head Coach explained.
“I thought we got everything out of it that we needed to.
“It was a good game, the way in which we applied ourselves in both halves was excellent and a continuation of what has gone on in the first eleven days of pre-season.
He added: “We wanted to get the load in the legs because you can work on the training pitch and go through as much as you like but nothing beats coming up against an opposition.
“The way we passed the ball and the tempo we played at was really good.
“We probably could have had more than one goal in the second half but it wasn’t to be.
“It was a really positive night, the new lads came in and did well and the fans turned out in their numbers once again and they go home happy.”
18-year-old Tezgel was joined in the starting XI by fellow Academy product Sol Sidibe before young defender Jaden Dixon was later introduced for the second 45.
Schumacher was pleased with the contributions of all three young Potters, who will have the opportunity to further impress their Head Coach during a weeklong training camp in Cork next week.
“I haven’t seen lots of Emre because he was just coming back from an injury when I first came to the club and then he went out on loan to MK Dons,” Schumacher said.
“It is really important for him to have a good pre-season with us and show what he is capable of.
“In the last ten days, he has been really sharp, trained really well and scored goals in game situations that we have done.
“He has shown glimpses of the quality people have seen in him as a young player here, got two really good goals and probably should have had a hat-trick.
“Sol was excellent too and young Jaden was outstanding in the second half, he didn’t put a foot wrong apart from two passes really late on when he tried to force things.
“I said to him afterwards that he can keep things as simple as possible because we all know how good a player he is going to be, so he doesn’t need to complicate it.”
City’s squad will step up their preparations when they head to the Emerald Isle on Saturday before facing Cork City on Wednesday night.
Schumacher says that, while the trip will major on hard work and increasing the physical attributes of his side, he is looking forward to growing the togetherness within the group in equal measure.
“We’ll get some good work done in Cork, it is a good chance for us all to get to know each other more,” he continued.
“We have been here for six months now and next week will give us a chance to sit down with the staff and players for six days, get to know everyone better and build relationships.
“It is really important we build that togetherness in the squad. The lads will work hard, they’ll be put through their paces and they’ll also get tactical information, with more out of possession work next week before another good game against Cork City.”