That’s been helped by a level of comfort in the locker room, which Flemmings said has quickly built chemistry off the field as well as on. While the side fell 1-0 to FCC, there was plenty to be pleased about for a first outing of the preseason.

“We’re not even two weeks in and the group looked pretty well,” said Flemmings. “We weren’t expecting any less with the quality, [but] we came out there with half of the guys having not played together. We came here, played 45 minutes and coach was really impressed. We’ll just get better from here.”

Tampa Bay’s next test arrives on Saturday as it squares off with Major League Soccer’s Montreal Impact as part of the 2018 Suncoast Invitational at Al Lang Stadium. While the side is still working to gain match fitness, Campbell believes games against top-level opposition can help sharpen a side in ways that can’t be replicated in training sessions.

“It’s great for the players to go out and play against MLS opposition,” said Campbell. “We’ll have another tough week coming up, we’re not going to take our foot off the gas, we’ll be working really hard, and their reward is to go out on Saturday night in front of our wonderful fans on a lovely big pitch and pit your wits against some of the best players in U.S. soccer.

“It’ll be a really good test for us, and not only that, from a tactical standpoint it’ll really work the guys. They’ll get fitness in that game that you can’t implement in training.”

For Flemmings, putting on a show for his new fans against strong opposition for the next two weeks is an enticing prospect.

“Going up against MLS teams is always going to be really exciting,” said Flemmings. “We’re really going to want to show what the Rowdies are about. I think we’re going in the right direction and we’re doing very well so far, so we’ll see what happens when it comes.”