United got their pre-season schedule underway on Thursday evening with a 16 goal victory against FC Gherdiena.

United’s head coach David Hockaday, who was in charge of the team for the first time, says the attitude shown by the players was the thing that impressed him the most.

United were ruthless from start to finish against the local side and the head coach was pleased with what he saw from his side.

“The game was part of our pre-season training programme and now we have added match fitness to it,” said United’s head coach. “Most of the players had 45 minutes and we haven’t got any injuries from the game that I know of.

“There were one or two little niggles but nothing that will stop them training. The thing that I was really impressed with was the attitude of the players.

“It can sometimes be difficult playing against a team that we dominated like we did but the players kept on going and going.

“They all did some running afterwards as well because we need to be the fittest team in the league, that is the aim.

“They tried to put into practise all the things that we have been working on recently. There is still lots to work on but overall the attitude was spot on.”

United may have won the game with 16 unanswered goals but David insists that there was a number of positives to take from the game.

“It was the first game, the scoreline doesn’t really mean anything,” said Hockaday. “We kept a cleansheet and we kept the ball well.

“There was a good intensity to our passing at times and we got lots of balls in the box. There were some great finishes.

“I just think that the general attitude of the team was great, and I will keep on stressing that, we looked like a team. There was a camaraderie there.

“The result was nice for the confidence but it is early days. All the lads got 45 minutes and they will be back in training on Friday.”

United’s next pre-season game is on Sunday evening against Romanian side Viitorul Constanta, 5.30pm local time, 4.30pm UK time.