Mark Kennedy is pleased with his side's progression during pre-season after giving most of his squad an hour's worth of gametime during two matches against Sheffield United on Tuesday.
The two 60-minute workouts both finished in favour of the Sky Bet Championship Blades - 2-0 and 4-0 - but City's head coach was pleased with the approach of his side.
He said: "We're only in week three of pre-season and it's pleasing to see things we have worked on implemented out there on the pitch, the first game was certainly even against a good side and collectively we did well.
"Our team for the second game was younger and they found it tougher against experienced players, but it was a great experience for the likes of Hayden Cann and Morgan Worsfold-Gregg to come up against people like Rhian Brewster and Sander Berge."
City are back in action on Saturday when they head to Hartlepool United for a pre-season friendly.
Kennedy added: "This was another good step along the road to that first game against Exeter City.
"Everything is geared towards that, everything we do is designed to get the players in peak condition for the start of the season."