Unai Emery took plenty of positives from Aston Villa’s 2-0 win against Fulham in the Premier League Summer Series.
A lengthy delay due to thunderstorms in Orlando didn’t affect the Villans, who secured victory thanks to goals from Jaden Philogene and new signing Moussa Diaby.
Head coach Emery was pleased to see his side moving in the right direction as they continue their pre-season preparations.
“There were some very good things, one of them is that Jaden (Philogene) scored and a good goal as well for Moussa Diaby,” he said.
“We shared minutes with different players and tried to do something different, tactically, with Ezri Konsa.
“We didn’t control the game like we wanted and we lost more ball than we have to to control the match.
“Overall, I’m happy with the result, with different players and practicing in different ways tactically.
“We have to continue being positive.”
Villa’s time in the USA comes to an end after Sunday’s game against Brentford in Washington DC.
Emery feels it’s been a very valuable experience for his squad ahead of a campaign which could see them play many more matches than previous seasons after the club qualified for the Europa Conference League play-off round.
He said: “We’re playing three matches in seven days, so it’s practice for when we’re going to play Premier League, Conference League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
“Now, in pre-season, we have to use different players and to balance minutes with the players. We have to now prepare the next match against Brentford.
“We will play with the same players but trying to mix minutes.”
