Mauricio's verdict on Inter

Mauricio Pochettino is delighted with how the team has competed in pre-season – he’s now ready for the final lap of summer preparation before the big kick-off against Villa next weekend.

Sunday’s 1-1 draw and eventual 4-3 loss on penalties to Inter in the International Champions Cup completed a five-star set of pre-season encounters with Juventus, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich already in the bag.

Almost 60,000 fans joined us on our return home – our first match at the new stadium since 12 May – where they welcomed Tanguy Ndombele to the Club before a lively start saw us take an early lead through Lucas Moura with just three minutes on the clock.

Inter levelled through Stefano Sensi and it stayed that way as both teams made numerous substitutions. Heung-Min Son came closest to winning it in the second half but was denied late by Samir Handanovic, who then saved from Christian Eriksen and Oliver Skipp in the shoot-out.

“The game is there to build our confidence, our business, many things,” reflected Mauricio. “I am positive. I think the team competed very well but still we need to improve in all areas.

“Inter started (pre-season) before us and for us, it was a challenge playing in Singapore, China and the Audi Cup against tough opposition. That’s why I think we’ve competed well.

“We’re not at 100 per cent but we still have one week to be ready to compete in our best way back here next weekend against Aston Villa.

“There were a lot of positives. Tanguy played more than an hour and many players had the possibility to play and to build their fitness, that’s most important for us. Also, our fans are unbelievable. I thank them for their support.”

The start of the Premier League is less than a week away with newly promoted Villa up first on Saturday (5.30pm).

Mauricio has a clear final week to prepare. He added: “We’ll follow our plan, we need to improve in different areas and to work on fitness, tactics.”