Swansea City ticked off another box in their pre-season preparations on Saturday with two 60-minute matches against Bristol Rovers at Fairwood.
It was a blistering day on the fringes of Gower and 120 minutes of increasingly high-tempo football in the blazing sun will have helped head coach Russell Martin and his coaching staff in assessing the squad's fitness levels ahead of the season opener at Rotherham United at the end of the month.
The game at Swansea's training base took place behind closed doors for reasons already discussed by Martin, and you can read what happened against the Gas here.
READ MORE: What just happened in Swansea City's behind-closed-doors friendly no-one saw against Bristol Rovers
New signings Harry Darling and Nathan Wood have been bedding in with their new team-mates since arriving from MK Dons and Middlesbrough respectively, and have seen minutes over the course of the pre-season schedule.
They started against Haverfordwest County, Forest Green Rovers, Plymouth Argyle and Bristol Rovers and played an hour together against Colchester United, and with Ben Cabango still recovering from injury, there is every likelihood the pair will line up alongside veteran Kyle Naughton against The Millers at the New York Stadium.
Assistant head coach Matt Gill says Wood has been "like a sponge" since he arrived from Teesside and is willing to do everything he can to learn how to fit into Martin's system - an ethos that will no doubt go down well with the staff in SA1.
When asked if he was happy with how Wood was adapting to his new surroundings, Gill said: "Very much so. Nathan has been like a sponge since he's come in, desperate for the info, desperate to ask questions. He's really willing to listen and improve.
"I think today showed that. He's really come on since he's been in, and it's exciting what can come from Nathan, he's certainly got all the attributes and he's desperate to learn."
Youngster Cameron Congreve was on the scoresheet for the hosts in the first hour-long game, finishing extremely well from just outside the box following Joel Piroe's opener from the spot. After signing a contract extension earlier on in the week, it capped a fine few days for the teenager.
“He has had a big year, making his debut last season and coming back and being with us from the start of pre-season,” said Gill.
“He deserves everything he gets. He is a really good lad, it’s great he has signed his new contract. It was a brilliant finish for his goal, and it came from something we have been working on with him in terms of his recovery runs and defensive responsibilities.
“So, to get a goal of the back of that will hopefully encourage him to continue doing that defensive work.”
READ NEXT:
