Cardiff City's pre-season preparations ratcheted up another notch this week with the comfortable 2-0 win over Newport County.
It added to the 3-2 win over Cambridge United the weekend before as Steve Morison continues to integrate his new players and nail down the changed playing style which has been worked hard on over the course of pre-season.
Here, we take a closer look at a couple of talking points from this week's clash with the Exiles...
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Youngster Crole grabs chance
It's hard to look past James Crole when we think back to Tuesday night. What a moment for the youngster to score his first senior goal, albeit in a friendly, after setting up Gavin Whyte for the opener.
The youngster has shot out of nowhere the last few months and his rise has been pleasing for those within the club. The teenager started last season with the under-18s, but got his shot in the under-23s after the likes of Isaak Davies and Chanka Zimba got moved up to the first team and out on loan respectively.
The 18-year-old became the club's second-highest scorer for the under-23s in the end, netting a hat-trick on his debut and scoring six in total. He has rightly earned his chance at some pre-season minutes and did well.
In an interview with WalesOnline earlier this year, under-23s boss Darren Purse envisaged a potential loan spell away for the forward. "You've got James Crole and Tom Davies. They were two under-18s scholars last year and they went and played 25 games for the under-23s. To do that at under-18 age is excellent. They will be first-year pros next year," he added.
"The experience they've had, the path is probably for them to go out on loan somewhere. Whether that's the first six months or second six months of the season. I've already had a few clubs ask, not just about those two, but other players."
He will certainly need that taste of senior football, one suspects, before being given a chance in the first team, but he couldn't have done much more to impress than what he did against Newport, and good on him, too.
New signing excites
Without a doubt the most exciting player on either side was Ollie Tanner. It remains to be seen how he copes with the rigours of Championship football and gnarled defenders, but against Newport he ran amok in the first half.
Twisting his opposing full-back inside and out, he showed an exciting willingness to run at defenders and fire shots off with both feet. He will likely be inconsistent, given he is making a huge step up, but he certainly got bums off seats. It was no coincidence so many supporters clamoured for autographs and photos with him before, during and after the game at Cardiff International Sports Stadium.
It would be nice for him to get a goal or two in pre-season, just for that extra confidence boost heading into a daunting Championship season. Patience will likely be needed with him and expectations should be kept in check, but, also, he is the sort of player that gets people to enjoy the game!
A little bit of swagger and pace, Jack Grealish-esque looks, what's not to like, eh?!
Stark difference off the ball
While individuals always stand out, the most telling thing from a team perspective was just how brilliant Cardiff were at getting the ball back after losing it, something they struggled with last year given the make-up of their side.
As soon as City lost the ball on Tuesday, they harried the League Two side and didn't let them breathe. Stats for that game are hard to come by, but one suspects Cardiff had more than their fair share of possession on the night.
It's clearly something which has been worked on over the summer and it was encouraging for Steve Morison to see it in action against their south Wales rivals.
“I’m really pleased,” Morison said. “We had a plan in place; we’ve been working towards it all pre-season, and I thought that the lads were excellent. There are lots of positives. I’m gutted that the boys who played the 60 didn’t get the goal that they deserved, their play warranted it.
“The lads who came on in the second half really put the icing on the cake so that it was a really good evening. It’s one that we can be proud of.
“The fundamentals of it all is that we get the ball back quickly if we don’t have it, and I think that’s what we did best today. It was the most pleasing aspect for me, along with the work rate, and effort to get back.”
Style becoming clear
It might only be a small thing, but the contrast even the warm-ups were different to 12 months ago. Those who attend matches regularly will have seen Cardiff last year smashing 30-yard long balls to each other and practicing headers.
On Tuesday, the three midfield players, Tom Sang, Eli King and Ryan Wintle, were operating a passing drill in the middle of the pitch which resulted in City hitting their winger on a diagonal pass before launching a mini attack up the pitch. The strikers were undertaking some shooting drills while the defenders were hitting zipped passes in a triangle.
That extended to the goalkeeper after the game started, too. Rarely did Ryan Allsop belt a ball 50 yards upfield for the sake of it. As soon as he caught he ball he looked to roll it out. If the ball was at his feet he would pass it out (to his detriment one time when Offrande Zanzala dispossessed him!).
It still needs work and how it goes when proper Championship outfits are pressing hard remains to be seen, but it's clear to see where Morison wants to take this side and how he wants to do it.
Positional hints
We could perhaps take away some positional hints from Tuesday night, too.
Perry Ng seems to have made the full-time migration from right-back to centre-back now, even playing in a back two alongside Oliver Denham. He makes a big difference to the aforementioned style of play, though, oozing confidence as he brings the ball out from the back.
Whether his height works against City, especially at set-pieces, is perhaps one concern. He was outjumped by Lucas Joao for Reading's goal last season, the first game he played as a centre-back in a back two, and it's worth keeping in mind, especially because Denham isn't particularly big or imposing.
Another note was that Cardiff's full-back signings seem to lend themselves to a four-at-the-back system. Vontae Daley-Campbell struggled a little bit, while Mahlon Romeo looked comfortable operating as a standard right-back. One gets the feeling Jamilu Collins and Joel Bagan are more natural left-backs rather than wing-backs, too, which all points to the Bluebirds moving to a back four, rather than a back five, this term.
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