Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of Cardiff City's pre-season has been the manner in which new signing James Collins has hit the ground running.
Collins was brought in as a free agent following the expiration of his contract at Luton Town, with manager Mick McCarthy desperate to add more experience to his forward line.
It should come as no surprise, though, that Collins has started so brightly. His record in front of goal is an impressive one over the course of the last few years.
He has scored more than 10 league goals in each of his last five seasons - two of which saw him surpass the 20-mark - and that is an area in which Cardiff desperately needed reinforcement.
Kieffer Moore's stellar campaign last season saw him bag 20 goals himself, but City found themselves scratching around for consistent goals elsewhere.
Collins, it is hoped, will ease that burden on Moore.
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On Tuesday, the Republic of Ireland striker bagged his third goal in as many outings for the Bluebirds, converting a wicked cross from Ryan Giles' left foot.
He came within inches of doing the same thing in the first half, but his sliding effort came up inches short of a tap-in.
"James Collins netting another one, that's great for him," McCarthy told WalesOnline.
"He's come in, we've expected him to score goals and he is."
When McCarthy came in back in January, it was no coincidence that experienced strikers continued to be linked; Cameron Jerome, Jordan Rhodes, Charlie Wyke just to name a few.
Cardiff have Mark Harris, Isaak Davies and Max Watters, who is out on loan at MK Dons this term, all on the books and while they are young and exciting talents, they do not have the goalscoring pedigree of Collins.
Even when McCarthy shored up Cardiff's leaky defence towards the back end of last season, there was a sense of uncertainty as to where the goals might be coming from if Moore's form cooled.
Now, though, the arrival of Collins has helped to allay those concerns and McCarthy believes that a Moore-Collins axis up front will cause Championship defenders all sorts of trouble in the upcoming campaign.
"Absolutely," McCarthy said when asked if Collins and Moore could work together this season. "There were times last year when we played with two up top and three midfield players in a 3-5-2.
"Those two will be a right handful together. There is flexibility in it.
"It's only pre-season, but you can only play against what you've got in front of you.
"He's doing what he's been brought in to do - score goals."
Not only can Collins find the back of the net, but he is more than adept at the physical side of the game, too.
Moore was used so often as a target man by the Bluebirds last term and it will come as some comfort that another physical, abrasive striker is now in situ.
That will doubtless help the Welshman when it comes to staving off injuries and, as Cardiff fans know, keeping Moore fit will almost certainly have a big bearing on the team's fortunes this season.
