Steven Pressley was delighted to see strike pairing Simon Murray and Emile Acquah get among the goals as Dundee defeated Brechin 3-0 in their final match of pre-season.
It took less than 25 seconds for the Dark Blues to win a penalty kick against their Highland League hosts.
Fin Robertson was brought down in the area before skipper Simon Murray stepped up to put his side in front from their first attack.
On 17 minutes it was 2-0, Paul Digby crossing for Acqua to finish brilliantly with a backheel flick.
The second period saw the entire XI changed as Monterrey trialists Jorge Landeros, Jose Urias and Oscar Soto got a run-out.
And it was Urias who got on the scoresheet late on, firing into the roof of the net.
‘Tidy up’
It was a positive day for Pressley’s side but he admits there are things to sharpen up on before the competitive action starts next weekend.
“We want to be a team that can attack in many different ways,” he told Courier Sport.
“We want to be a team that can build if we need to build, but also penetrate behind if we need to.
“Considering the pitch was a little bit sticky, I thought we showed reasonably good variation in our attacking play.
“I liked the fact we won a lot of first contacts.
“I liked the fact that our two strikers both got off the mark. Emile scored a great finish, something he’s very capable of.
“I also liked the fact we penetrated behind.
“There were a number of things I was really pleased about.
“The attitude of the group was great but it’s still very early stages. There’s still a lot to work on, especially without the ball, on transitions. Those sort of areas we really need to tidy up on.
“We’ve not really, if truth be told, concentrated too much on that so far.
“But it is an area, watching today’s game, that we certainly need to tidy up on.
“We’re a little bit open at times during the game.”
Tony Yogane and Plamen Galabov
There was also a first look at Tony Yogane after his loan from Brentford was secured with the pacey winger impressing in his 45 minutes on the pitch.
“He’s a really interesting player,” Pressley said.
“I thought he showed some real quality and real excitement on a sticky pitch.”
Second half saw Bulgarian international Plamen Galabov also make his first impression in dark blue, coming on for the second half.
His day, though, was almost ended early after a heavy challenge from a Brechin trialist that brought a yellow card and lengthy treatment.
Galabov, however, shook off the blow and finished the match.
“He’s OK. It was a really poor tackle, actually. But he’s a tough boy,” Pressley confirmed.
Monterrey trialists assessed
The second half saw Dundee line up with five Mexicans across midfield and the forward line with the three trialists joining Cesar Garza and Chespi for the final 45.
So what did Pressley make of the three trialists, Landeros, Urias and Soto?
“Over the last five or six days, they’ve really shown some great quality in training and today, again, they showed that quality,” Pressley added.
“They’ll return to Mexico on Monday morning but I think it’s been a really worthwhile exercise.
“We can certainly benefit from the relationship we have with Monterrey.
“We need to have further discussions on whether they will come back and I would need to see them again in different types of games before I make that judgement.
“But they have acquitted themselves really well.”
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