Arsenal had a good workout against a Singapore Select XI in their first match of the Barclays Asia Tour 2015, and now the focus will shift to the preseason tournament final against Everton on Saturday.
Arsene Wenger rested most of his marquee players for the opening match, with the likes of Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla, Laurent Koscielny and, most importantly, Petr Cech sitting out.
Wenger said the rested players will be given a chance on Saturday, with every single preseason game now important as the season approaches thick and fast.
Around 30,000 or so people, majority of whom had come in to see Arsenal play, were disappointed to see Cech left out of the playing squad, but with a capacity crowd expected in Singapore on Saturday, hopefully Wenger will not disappoint them a second time.
One of the players who did get solid time out in the middle on Wednesday, in the 4-0 win over Singapore Select XI, was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and having missed most of the second half of last season through injury, the midfielder knows the importance of getting a good preseason under his belt going into the new campaign.
"It's always nice to play a game," Oxlade-Chamberlain was quoted by the club's official website. "Everyone looks to preseason and getting going -- it's a good opportunity for all of us to get fitness back.
"It's a step in the right direction to getting back to full fitness, not just for myself but for everyone. We're looking forward to the start of the season.
"I've seen every year as a big one for me and this is no different. I did suffer from injuries for the last two seasons now, which is always frustrating and isn't something you want.
"I do see this season as an opportunity."
Everton will also look at this Barclays Asia Tour 2015 final as the perfect opportunity to, not just get their fitness levels up, but also to test themselves against a side, which many have tipped to compete for the title next season.
The Toffees played a competitive match against Stoke City on Wednesday, and while they eventually prevailed on penalties, Roberto Martinez will want to see a bit more cutting edge from his team, having failed to score a single goal in the 90 minutes.
"We're looking forward to the final and it's exciting for us, it really is," Tim Howard, who made the crucial save in the penalty shootout to keep out Marco Van Ginkel, said. "We want to set a winning culture at this football club and even though it's preseason, winning matters to us.
"It's hot out here but we were really well prepared. In the week leading up to it we did a really good job in our preparations and thankfully it paid off."
Barclays Asia Tour 2015 Saturday schedule: Third-place playoff: Stoke City vs Singapore Select XI (6 pm local time, 3.30 pm IST, 11 am BST, 6 am ET) at National Stadium in Singapore.
Final: Arsenal vs Everton (8.30 pm local time, 6 pm IST, 1.30 pm BST, 8.30 am ET) at National Stadium in Singapore.
