West Ham boss David Moyes was happy with their 1-1 draw at preseason opponents Reading.
The Hammers were given a good test by both Paul Ince’s Royals and the hot weather at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, where Croatian Nikola Vlašić was on target, Nayef Aguerd made his first appearance and Declan Rice, Jarrod Bowen, Vladimír Coufal, Alphonse Areola and Ben Johnson all made their comebacks from their belated summer breaks.
Moyes said, “It was a decent test for us. It didn’t have a great intensity, the game, but I think the temperatures would explain that a little bit, but it was good.
“We got a chance to get international players back and get some of them 45 minutes and some of them slightly longer.
“For an opening game I’m pleased with it, pleased with the fitness more than anything. We’ve got a lot I want to work on as far as football goes, but I can’t complain with how we’ve looked today.
“The internationals shouldn’t have lost too much as they are only three or four weeks out of playing.
“It is more that getting their touch back and their positional sense and getting their sharpness back that will take a little bit of time.
“I think the general fitness is all very good.
“It’s been much, much better to have the internationals back and the whole squad together.
“The level of players and the quality of the players has helped the group. We’ve kept some young boys around us as well, which we’re going to do.
“We need everybody to start stepping up and show us what they’re doing because you start to run out of games and run out of time, so we want to keep moving it along.”
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