Carlton Fairweather was pleased with his new-look Sunderland Ladies team as they played out a 0-0 draw with Glasgow City to kick off pre-season.
New faces and coach's thoughts
All four of the Ladies' off-season signings featured, as Lucy Staniforth, Kylla Sjoman, Rachel Pitman and Krystelle Jonhston made their debuts in Sunday's game against a team who've featured in the UEFA Women's Champions League recently.
Following the game, Fairweather commented that he was happy to give the new girls a run out and was pleased with their contributions, saying this to local media: "It's just a case of settling them into the squad, as an individual and as a team."
Fairweather believes that if the squad can replicate that form "for the next couple of games" then it should put the club "in a good place for the start of the season".
The game
As for the match at the Excelsior Stadium itself, Sunderland really grew into the game after a slow start and put a lot of pressure on in the second period. Keira Ramshaw had the best chance of the match for the Wearsiders after just two minutes but was denied by a good save from the Glasgow goalkeeper.
As well as the new signings, Fairweather shared his thoughts on the match and feels that "the longer the game went on" the "stronger" the team became.
He admitted that the Lady Black Cats were "much more positive and creative", which he was pleased with.
Fairweather, a winger in his playing days, also praised his team after they "defended well". He did, however, stress the need to "keep the ball better", especially "in and around the final third".
The Ladies will play a few more pre-season games over the next month before starting their WSL 1 campaign against newly-promoted Reading Women at home on March 26, hoping to build upon their remarkable fourth-place finish last year.