Jon Brady said he saw plenty of positives as he reflected on Tuesday night’s pre-season friendly with Nottingham Forest.
“It was good for the players to get 70 minutes under their belt, we showed a lot of energy and we had connections all over,” he said.
“We have been steady in our progress in terms of the minutes the players have had but tonight was the first time we have put more of a knitted squad together.
“We started well and we really set the tempo for the game. It wasn’t like a pre-season friendly tonight.
“Our shape was good, we were bright, we pressed well and we got a lot of entries into the final third. We couldn’t maintain that tempo, that was to be expected at this stage but it was important for us to get those minutes into the players but we need to look after them as well."
Benny Ashley-Seal came off in the first half after picking up a knock and Brady added:
“Benny came off as more of a precaution and it was great to see him start off at a real tempo tonight and link up nicely with Nicky as well."