Stuart Dallas chatted with LUTV after his side played out an entertaining draw on Saturday evening in their final pre-season friendly.
Having played all 90 minutes in the clash with Europa League winners Villarreal, Dallas gave his thoughts to LUTV after the final whistle.
The Northern Irish man enjoyed the test against strong opposition and is now raring to go for the big season opener in Manchester on Sunday.
“It was a good test for us, against very good opposition who are preparing for a cup final during the week,” Dallas explained.
“A draw was probably a fair result in the end, we started the game in a strange way, conceding so early on.
“We got ourselves back into it and the first half I thought we played really well, I thought Pat (Patrick Bamford) was a real handful upfront.
“I thought we pressed the game really well, we’ve been working really hard on that in the last couple of weeks.
“Usually in the second half it tends to open up a bit more, but we’re disappointed with how we conceded the second goal, it’s something we will look back on and try to improve it.
“Overall a draw was a fair result and we put in a good performance all round.”
The Whites begin their Premier League campaign away at Manchester United on Saturday and Dallas feels the side are in good shape ahead of the season opener.
He said: “Of course in pre-season you don’t get any points for winning games but we want to have a winning mentality at this club.
“We are disappointed we haven’t won any games in pre-season, of course we want to win but it’s all about putting in the right performances and getting the fitness.
“It’s another 90 minutes for the majority of the lads, against good opposition, we always want to test ourselves against the best.
“Playing teams like Villarreal will help us and will set us up well going into the new season.
“I’d say the hard work is done now, in terms of fitness but we will do a lot this week on Manchester United.
“We want to go there and put on a performance in front of a full crowd which will be nice, we’re never quite ready as we're always trying to improve before each game and work on things.”
