Ian Evatt was pleased to see his side control this afternoon's game with Wanderers finishing pre-season with a convincing 3-0 win at Vale Park.
Goals from Aaron Collins, Victor Adeboyejo and Dion Charles ensured the Whites finished off pre-season in the best possible way.
It took Aaron Collins less than two minutes to give Wanderers the lead after missing the previous friendly against Stoke City. Evatt was pleased to see a number of injured players return and the overall performance of the side.
"I think it was a lovely goal, If anyone was to show a goal that kind of showcases what we do and how we do it, I think that goal probably sums us up, which was good," said Evatt on Aaron Collins' opener.
"We've got players like Aaron Collins, getting back to full speed, Dion (Charles) getting back to full speed.
"Jack (Iredale), Johno (George Johnston), those types that are going to get better with more minutes and probably aren't 100% going into the season. But largely, that was a really positive performance.
![Collins](https://cdn.bwfc.co.uk/sites/default/files/2024-08/shutterstock_editorial_14616624az.jpg)
"I think there's still things that we can definitely tighten up on and improve but a lot of the work that we've done in pre-season, I thought we saw it for the majority of the time today and this is why we chose this friendly because we knew it's always a challenge coming to Vale Park.
"At times, we just became a little bit sloppy - I understand that you're not going to get every pass right but we can have that aim and goal, and we're going to really drill down the finer details. But the movement was good, the out of possession stuff was good."
Along with the three goals Wanderers managed against Vale, a clean sheet was hugely gratifying for Evatt.
"I think we broke the club record for goals in the calendar year last year, but we didn't keep enough clean sheets in my opinion and for automatic promotion, that probably cost us.
"So getting back to clean sheet habits, getting back to hopefully keeping on with the scoring and creating chances, but tightening up in other areas and tightening up against the ball is going to help us."
![Cele](https://cdn.bwfc.co.uk/sites/default/files/2024-08/shutterstock_editorial_14616624dv.jpg)
Looking ahead to next week as a new campaign gets underway as Wanderers travel down to London to face Leyton Orient and Evatt is relishing the challenges that come with competitive league football.
"One thing I can guarantee is that it's going to be a rollercoaster. That's football. That's the way it is," Evatt told Wanderers TV.
"Hopefully we can enjoy the ride and just make our fans happy, that's what we want this season - we want the fans to be delighted with us.
"We want them to be proud of us and we're going to work tirelessly hard to try and make sure that happens."
Watch the manager’s full post-match interview and a chat with Aaron Collins following his opener in today's match on Wanderers TV HERE