Gylfi Sigurdsson said Everton's goalless draw with FC Sion provided a good test as a host of the Blues' internationals got their first taste of pre-season action in Switzerland.
Sigurdsson, who was one of a number of players to join up with the Everton squad this week, struck the bar and the post after coming on as a half-time substitute at the Stade Saint-Marc in Le Chable.
Those two efforts, plus a Michael Keane header – disallowed for offside – and second-half shots from Oumar Niasse and Bernard were the closest the Blues came as they dominated against a side playing their final warm-up fixture before resuming domestic league action next Friday.
As well as Sigurdsson, Sunday's game saw Jordan Pickford, Lucas Digne, Bernard, Seamus Coleman and Michael Keane - who saw a first-half header ruled out for offside - get their first runouts of the summer.
"I think we played alright, a lot of the boys were playing their first 45 minutes and there’s still a long way to go but we are happy with the start," said Sigurdsson.
"Of course, these pre-season friendlies aren’t always the quality we want because of the intense training we do.
"The altitude is really good [for us] and the weather is fantastic, so it was a good day for us. We’ve got another five days of training ahead of us now and it’s going to get tougher.
"We’ve got another game [against Monaco on Friday] but the most important thing is the work we put in inbetween those games."
Sigurdsson also reserved praise for the group of Premier League 2 winners who have linked up with Marco Silva's squad in the Alps.
Lewis Gibson, Nathan Broadhead, Fraser Hornby, Dennis Adeniran and Ryan Astley have all been given a chance to impress and sample life at first-team level, and Sigurdsson says they have been a credit to themselves since the team touched down in Valais Canton on Thursday.
"They’ve been good," he said. "We saw last pre-season that we’ve got a lot of good young players and you saw it here today.
"This is their chance. A few of the players are still away and so they get an opportunity to play and get some minutes.
"Hopefully they can do well and challenge to get into the squad."
