Sam Allardyce expressed his contentment after West Ham United scored a 2-0 pre-season win at Championship new boys AFC Bournemouth.
First-half goals from Kevin Nolan and Jack Collison were enough to secure victory in a Testimonial match for former Hammers and Cherries full-back Stephen Purches. Thousands of Hammers fans swelled the attendance to 7,080 in hot sunshine at the Goldsands Stadium.
Big Sam handed first pre-season appearances to Mohamed Diame and Joey O'Brien, while Netherlands international midfielder Orlando Engelaar was given a trial after the break.
As West Ham prepare to take on League One side Colchester United on Tuesday before flying out for a three-game tour of Germany the following day, Big Sam said things were dropping into place ahead of the big Barclays Premier League kick-off on 17 August.
"It's finished off another fine week for us in our pre-season preparation," the manager told West Ham TV. "The level of the game was up a level in terms of the quality of Bournemouth Football Club, which has given us a bit more of a test.
"It was never that comfortable and we took our two goals very, very well indeed and I think we easily could have more. Modibo Maiga hit the post with a delicate chip, which was unlucky for him, and we had a few more chances to boot.
"Results are not that important at the moment. It's more about improving the fitness and we're doing that very well. We're fitter than we were at this stage last season.
"We've got to keep clear of injuries if we can and let's hope we can continue to grow looking forward to 17 August, when we want to hit the ground 100 per cent running and make sure we get off to a start like we did last season."
After a frenetic start, Nolan headed West Ham in front on seven minutes from Guy Demel's pinpoint cross before Collison expertly rounded home goalkeeper Daryl Flahavan to double the lead a minute before half-time.
The second half saw Maiga hit the post and Joe Cole, who showed some outstanding bits of skill, come close on a couple of occasions.
For Eddie Howe's Bournemouth, man-of-the-moment and Hammers Academy graduate Purches appeared late on, as did Cherries legends Darren Anderton and Steve Fletcher.
More pleasing for Big Sam, however, was the sight of Diame and O'Brien returning to action after FIFA World Cup qualifying duty and a hamstring injury respectively.
"Joey had a bit of a hamstring niggle and the only two who are out now are George McCartney and Andy Carroll, who we hope to have back as soon as possible.
"Both of those injuries occurred last season and not this pre-season, so we'll try to keep the players as fit as we possibly can.
"We got to Colchester on Tuesday and then have three big games in Germany so we'll see where we are after those."
Finally, Big Sam confirmed that the Club would run the rule over Engelaar, a giant midfielder who has played for Schalke 04, PSV and the Dutch national team.
"A player of his experience and his quality, we'll have him with us for a few days to see if he could be a valuable member of our team. We'll obviously make that decision in the near future."
West Ham travel to the Weston Homes Community Stadium to take on Colchester on Tuesday evening, with kick-off at 7.45pm. For ticket details, click here.