Michael Duff felt there were early benefits for his Cheltenham side following their pre-season opener at Stratford Town.
A trip to the Arden Garages Stadium to take on Southern Premier Central Stratford yielded a 2-1 loss for his side, but it was more about getting minutes in the bank in what was the team's first run out since returning to pre-season training.
Luke Varney's late goal did see the Robins find the target, on an afternoon where the majority of the squad pulled on the shirt for the first time.
"It was a good run out," Duff said post-match. "Stratford have done quite well. Our lads have had a tough week physically so I said to them before the game we don't get obsessed with the results.
"We take our chances you win the game comfortably. There were a couple of mistakes but that was what we were expecting.
"At this early stage it's more about getting them fit and not getting them injured. The fact we've come through the game, 90 minutes, and done both those things.
"Some of the football was quite good - there are things we need to work on. The reason you have a pre-season is because if it was that easy that it just clicked on the first day you wouldn't bother having a pre-season, so that's where we're at."
Next up for Duff's side is a trip to Edgar Street to take on Hereford on Wednesday. Kick-off against the Bulls is at 7.45pm.