Andre Villas-Boas declared himself satisfied after our 1-1 pre-season friendly draw at Swindon Town on Tuesday night.

Gareth Bale thumped us into a 15th-minute lead at the County Ground and we might have been out of sight but for a host of fine saves from Swindon goalkeeper Wes Foderingham.

Jermain Defoe was thwarted twice – one header touched onto the crossbar – as we were sharp out of the blocks.

Andre made 10 changes for the second half – only Gylfi Sigurdsson stayed on and played for an hour – and Swindon drew level when Andy Williams’ shot deflected off Steven Caulker and looped home over Brad Friedel in the 75th minute.

“We haven’t stopped training and that’s a good thing for our physical stamina during these games,” said Andre.

“We’ll continue to use 45-45 minutes to get everyone to a level that’s good for resistance, stamina and endurance.

“Football-wise, we had some good moments, but also some things that we need to work on.

“We had some good chances and the result could have been different, but overall we had good, positive moments to take from the game.

"Overall, it was a good first show from everyone and congratulations to Swindon, they played well.

“We don’t stop now. The players have to be ready for tomorrow’s (Wednesday) session, then two sessions on Thursday and then back again to play on Friday.”

Next up is a pre-season friendly at Colchester United on Friday – kick-off 7pm.