Newport County boss Dave Hughes believes his team will be ready for business once the new season kicks off at the end of the month.
Hughes saw his side complete their third pre-season friendly with a 1-0 win at Worcester City’s Sixways Stadium on Saturday, courtesy of an Oliver Greaves strike in the 34th minute.
It was a “hard” test for his squad in intense heat and on an artificial surface which Hughes felt made it feel even hotter on the day.
His side make the trip to Weston-Super-Mare on Tuesday night (7.15pm) before travelling straight on to Torquay for a four-day training camp that ends with a friendly at Plainmor on Saturday (3pm).
A behind closed doors friendly at Bristol City is booked in on Tuesday, July 22 with a Newport XI concluding preparations at Barry Town on the Friday night.
Then it’s down to the real business with a Carabao Cup preliminary round tie at newly promoted Barnet on Tuesday, July 29 (7.30pm) and the opening League Two clash against Notts County at Rodney Parade on August 2 (3pm).
“As a group of staff, we've been really pleased with the players’ levels of fitness, application and commitment, which have been excellent,’’ explained Hughes.
“The results are irrelevant really at this moment in time, but the principles that we're trying to illustrate and reinforce with the players are really, really important.
“There are some parts of the performance and areas that we need to continue to work on and evolve further. We are trying to build something in terms of clarity in the way we want to play and the levels of application and intent.
“It’s hard to measure where we are at the moment. We’ll have a better idea after the next three friendlies. For example, some of the players, especially the midfielders, played longer against Worcester and we will keep building up their minutes, while also being conscious of recovery time to avoid injuries.
“The challenge now is to step it up in the next three friendlies; challenging the players to evolve physically and reinforcing the intensity we want to play to get them ready. Then we’ll know a little bit more about where we are.’’
Defender Jaden Warner will have to be assessed this week after limping off 10 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute with a knee injury, while new signings Matt Smith and Ged Gardner are read to return after slight injuries.
Cieran Brennan is also close to a return following a shoulder operation at the end of the season, while Michael Spellman is currently sidelined with a groin injury and goalkeeper Jordan Wright with a broken finger.
