It's back-to-back games for Bristol City this afternoon with manager Nigel Pearson likely to give his entire squad minutes to continue their match fitness build-up to the Championship opener.
First up, the Robins take on Kane Wilson's former club Forest Green Rovers before around a 30-minute break when a new-look side will take to the field to take on Exeter City at 4:30 pm at the High Performance Centre.
Although the toughest opponent of the afternoon could be the heat with temperatures set to hit 33 degrees in Bristol as the United Kingdon continues to bask in the unprecedented heatwave. City won't be too averse to such temperatures, having endured a gruelling training camp in Austria with similar conditions towards the beginning of the month.
However, training in the heat and playing are two different kettles of fish and it will be interesting to see at what intensity City will play their football with a close eye on the trip to Bournemouth on Saturday - their final warm-up match before taking on Hull.
Pearson's side head into the contest on the back of a narrow 1-0 victory over Plymouth with Nahki Wells on target to open his account for the season. It's a timely boost for the striker with that position up for grabs while Antoine Semenyo continues his recovery from a shin injury.
City were goal shy against Portsmouth, drawing 0-0 after 120 minutes of football on the back of a 2-0 victory over Cheltenham. While there is work to do creatively, the club's defence has been resolute having yet to concede a goal although they had Dan Bentley to thank for keeping that record intact against Plymouth.
Here are the talking points ahead of the double-header of matches...
The selection
Two matches mean some big decisions for the manager to make regarding who plays in which games and for how long. Pre-season is still all about the minutes as the club continues to work on getting the players at optimum fitness to face Hull on July 30.
Against Plymouth, they exercised extra caution with a number of first-team players with Joe Williams, Matty James and Kal Naismith sitting out of the game. It provided Han-Noah Massengo with the opportunity to get 90 minutes under his belt, while there were also starts for Tommy Conway, Andy King, George Tanner and Zak Vyner.
That will be telling in itself as to who will start against Forest Green. With three games to go until the new season, Pearson will still look for his new players to gel as a squad and he is likely to start a strong XI with Kane Wilson, James, Williams, Wells and Naismith all re-introduced from the start.
Timm Klose and Rob Atkinson have started in every pre-season match so far and considering the decision on Naismith on Saturday, one or both could start on the bench, giving the chance for Ryley Towler to come into the frame.
So far, Towler has only been introduced as a substitute to play alongside Duncan Idehen and today could provide an opportunity to line him up alongside Naismith and the so-called 'starters'.
What will undoubtedly be the case is that City will field a side that will be very similar to the one likely to start at Hull, perhaps with one or two changes. It will give a clear indication as to how Pearson sees his side shaping up if he hasn't already, considering the starting XI against Cheltenham and Portsmouth.
Similar to the Pompey match, where the game was extended to 120 minutes, changes could be in order on 75 minutes but a large handful of players could be handed their first full contest with a whole host of changes ahead of the second Exeter match.
A number of younger players and fringe players could then feature against the League One opponents including names such as Idehen, Max O'Leary, Sam Bell and Seb Palmer-Holden. City's Under-23s are also in action away at Chippenham handing Pearson even more food for thought regarding which youngsters are to feature.
Cam Pring will be among the absentees as he nurses a knee injury, although he is likely to return to face Bournemouth while Alex Scott is also set to miss out despite returning to first-team training on Monday following his break after England Under-19 Euros victory.
Where are we at with Wells?
We know Wells' name keeps cropping up regarding the talking points or in the verdict following these pre-season matches but considering the uncertainty over who will start in attack at Hull on the opening day, it all remains relevant.
After two blanks in his starting roles against Cheltenham and Portsmouth, the experienced striker sent a timely reminder not to rule him out of contention any time soon with the winner at Plymouth. It was an instinctive striker's goal, picking up the ball in the box, swivelling on his left foot and hitting the back of the net.
It was also a greater relief having missed a golden opportunity just moments before. Wells then continued to prove his professionalism after the game when speaking to the press about his focus to score goals for City despite the ongoing speculation on his future beyond the summer.
For Wells, getting off the mark will prove a confidence booster even despite being in a friendly against League One opposition. Momentum is generated by hitting the back of the net and today's matches will provide another golden opportunity to stake his claim.
Back-to-back goals could make Pearson's decision for July 30 a little easier as he competes with Tommy Conway, Mark Sykes and Alex Scott for a starting role. That is assuming Pearson starts with Chris Martin and Weimann with space for one more.
Wells' intentions are clear, he believes he can be the club's top scorer. He told Bristol Live: "I’ve got another year’s contract and I feel I’m more than capable to be our top scorer, our main number nine but I have to prove that when I get my chances.”
In games against Cheltenham and Portsmouth, you could almost see the agony in his face or cries of disappointment from the stands when he squandered a decent opportunity. He said it himself last season, goals are built on confidence and that comes with consistent game time - something he has barely tasted over the last 12 months.
With Antoine Semenyo out injured, Wells is getting that time he has craved and he'll be determined to be the difference yet again to ensure his opportunity on July 30.
Mark Sykes' positioning
Saturday was the first glimpse that Pearson is open to deploying Sykes as a right wing-back, with Kane Wilson taking up the left side.
One of the reasons Pearson signed Sykes was down to his versatility across the pitch, playing behind the strikers and in a deeper central midfield role. Naturally a right winger, it's unlikely we'll see much of him in his strongest position with the manager reluctant to play wide forwards in his system.
Therefore he's learning his new craft as a No10, admitting he is working hard to find out how he can influence the game and pick up the ball in the most influential positions. He featured in City's first two pre-season matches in the 'Weimann role', perhaps struggling to get on the ball as much as he'd like against Cheltenham but certainly looking more involved against Portsmouth.
On his introduction for George Tanner on Saturday, Sykes was handed 30 minutes as a wing-back and showed why he is most suited to playing in a wide-right role. He stayed high up the pitch attempting to keep Plymouth boxed in and added to City's attack, forcing his way to the byline to get his crosses away.
It's probably worth noting that Plymouth's Mickel Miller, who had caused Tanner trouble most of the afternoon, had been substituted by that point allowing Sykes more freedom than his team-mate to contribute in the final third.
What have been impressive in particular, are his fitness levels and boundless energy up and down the field. On Saturday, he barely gave his opponents a sniff, eager to tighten the angles and intercept the play.
He was rewarded when he intercepted a pass deep in Plymouth's half and showed quick thinking to play it into Bell who then helped it onto Wells to fire in the game's only goal. There were other positives, linking up well with Weimann when the Austrian drifted out to the right-hand side.
Back in the No10 role he has shown understanding with Wilson down that right side, the pair combining well further giving the impression that he is doing himself no harm in integrating himself in Pearson's set-up although there is still some fine-tuning to be done.
As mentioned above, there's a place in attack up for grabs for Sykes if Pearson prefers to play Weimann alongside Martin in the absence of Semenyo with the ex-Oxford man slotting in behind.
Although today's matches could be telling if Sykes is deployed as a wing-back at any point. With the way City are setting up in pre-season in regards to the wing-backs, we have seen Wilson play almost as an extra frontman as he hugs that touchline looking for the out ball.
That could suit Sykes and is an obvious thought for the manager going forward, although he will still need to be tested from a more defensive point of view to determine how influential he can be in that position.
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