The Blues chief shuffled almost his entire pack of fit players, mixing seniors with Elite Development under 21s, and was rewarded with a comprehensive win thanks to first half goals from Stevie Ireland and Emmanuel Adebayor and one after the break from Brazil’s Jo.
Craig Bellamy also hit the bar but it was not all one way traffic with both Joe Hart and his replacement Stuart Taylor having to make smart stops to prevent the Timbers getting on the score sheet.
“The main thing is that we came through without any serious injuries and that is important,” declared the boss.
“I am sure the players were glad to get into action after two weeks of hard work and I thought we did well against a side that is progressing in the United States and which was well prepared and fought hard all night.
“It was good for the young players to show what they could do. We used the defensive ones in the first half and the midfielders and strikers in the second half.
We moved the ball well at times and there was some good shape to our play
...Roberto Mancini
“This was only a first step but a big one on the way to the start of the Premier League season.”
Mancini will have more players from which to choose against Sporting Lisbon in New York next Friday night.
Kolo Toure and Shaun Wright-Phillips will arrive before the next training session and Gareth Barry will hook up with the squad in New York where Kolo’s bother Yaya is expected to make his debut.
Javier Garrido (calf), Michael Johnson, Shay Given were the men to miss out against Portland as they battle for full fitness. Garrido has a torn calf muscle.
