The pre-season game against Reading appeared to be the real starting point of a pre-season campaign which will become more intense as the games arrive.
We saw the international players return as the squad battled to a 1-1 draw against a Royals team which grew in confidence as the game progressed.
And they might have won it with a decent looking goal which was ruled offside towards the end after Declan had rattled the upright with a fine shot which could have settled things.
It’s Glasgow Rangers next on Tuesday night followed by Luton Town at the weekend and an away trip top Rennes before the Premier League campaign kicks off.
And manager David Moyes was relatively happy with what he saw this afternoon ahead of the remainder of the pre-season campaign.
Speaking after the game to www.whufc.com he pointed to the plus points and paid a particular complement to £30 million signing Nayef Aguerd.
He said: “It was a decent test for us. It didn’t have a great intensity, the game, but I think the temperatures would explain that a little bit, but it was good.
We got a chance to get international players back and get some of them 45 minutes and some of them slightly longer.
For an opening game I’m pleased with it, pleased with the fitness more than anything. We’ve got a lot I want to work on as far as football goes, but I can’t complain with how we’ve looked today.
The internationals shouldn’t have lost too much as they are only three or four weeks out of playing.
It is more that getting their touch back and their positional sense and getting their sharpness back that will take a little bit of time.
I think the general fitness is all very good.
It’s been much, much better to have the internationals back and the whole squad together.
The level of players and the quality of the players has helped the group. We’ve kept some young boys around us as well, which we’re going to do.
We need everybody to start stepping up and show us what they’re doing because you start to run out of games and run out of time, so we want to keep moving it along.
I’ve been really impressed by Nayef Aguerd.
There’ll be elements of his game that will need to take time and probably the biggest thing will be just adapting to the Premier League as far as I’m concerned.
But he’s a very good player, a good footballer, we know that, and hopefully we get to see that from him in the coming months and years.
It’ll be a really tough game against Rangers on Tuesday, as we know.
They are maybe about a week or so ahead of us, but I thought it was good that we got something out of today as well.