Head coach Nelson Jardim felt Newport County took another step in the right direction with their work on and off the ball in their 2-0 victory against a Bristol Rovers XI.
An own goal and strike from Courtney Baker-Richardson saw the Exiles pick up their third win of pre-season at the Quarters Training Centre on Tuesday.
And, while there is plenty more work to be put in in the remaining week before the big kick-off, the Portuguese believes his side are continuing to make positive strides.
“I thought the boys were brilliant today and they’ve been great since the beginning,” said Jardim
“We knew that the new players would take time to adapt but I think everything is gradually coming together now.
“I thought it was a really good game today, but most importantly the boys got more minutes in their tanks and are really starting to look ready for the season ahead.
“I thought today was clear a improvement from Saturday’s performance and obviously a win puts us in a good position for the game against Hereford on Saturday which we know will be difficult, but a good test for us.
“As a coaching team we’ve been working hard at developing different patterns over the past few games. We want to get the boys in the same mind set throughout the games and we want to do this by implementing a style of play that’s suits the squad best.
“We have spent time working on passing patterns and the timings of certain moves which will hopefully enable us to get into better attacking positions to score goals.”
He added: “Of course, the results are important in these games but the most crucial aspects of these games is the team’s performances, especially with the amount of young talent we have in our squad.
“I made it a personal goal of mine to take the first few games to get to know the boys but also for them to get to know me, and you can see today that we are building together well.
“I would definitely say there is something special in this squad and we are building a strong squad together with good cohesion.
“It is important for us to build great relationships all throughout the squad and I’ve got to say Clarkey (James Clarke) and Aaron Wildig have helped me so much.
"They’re just brilliant at making sure everyone feels welcome and that everyone is bonding.”