Saturday's Thomas Cook Trophy match against FC Porto will be the ideal test for City according to Stuart Pearce.
The Portuguese champions are the Blues’ final opponents before the Premiership begins next week and the Manager the game will be the ideal way to help his preparations.
“They will be a technically good side, a stern test for us and it should be a good game in our own stadium. It will also give the fans the chance to see one or two of the new faces that we have brought in.
“It’s an ideal game, over the last three or four years we have played good sides like Barcelona and Lazio, and Porto fit into that category. They have a lot of Champions League experience and will be a good side to play against.”
Pearce is also reasonably happy with the way pre-season has gone, with Porto presenting another chance to fine-tune things before the trip to Chelsea on August 20th.
“There have been some good things and some bad things. We look like we can score goals, there’s no doubt about that but at the back we need to get a bit tighter.
“When you chop and change your team during matches it makes it quite difficult but we have had some difficult games in pre-season, and some that have been comfortable. The two in China were physically and mentally tough for us, which I think will stand us in good stead as well.”
