Blues boss Paul Jewell was delighted with his side’s display as they beat Colchester United 2-1 at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.
Jewell said: "Certainly in the first half we were excellent, weren’t we? We should have been out of sight in the first half. They had a good chance but I think we’ve had about four gilt-edged opportunities.
"We played some really good football in the first half. We made a few changes in the second half and then it’s always a little disjointed.
"We came through a couple of injuries, Scott Loach had a tight groin and Luke Chambers had a tight adductor, and we didn’t want to take any chances.
"We took them off because it’s pre-season and although it’s important, it’s not as important as a week on Saturday. That’s what we’re aiming for.”
The Town manager was pleased to see Michael Chopra net twice more: "There’s nothing like your goalscorer scoring goals, but it’s not just that, his general play has been sharper this pre-season than it was last season. He’s fitter and he’s got six goals in pre-season, which is a good return.”
Overall, he says he’s been much happier with the last two performances: "We did create a lot of opportunities, we had a lot of good movement in the team, we passed the ball exceptionally well and we were a danger every time we’ve got forward. But we’ve got to make sure when we get those gilt-edged situations, we kill teams off.”