The US tour is over and the serious stuff is about to begin.

Concluding our pre-season with four consecutive games against Premier League opposition was brave. Our confidence could have been affected by a run of poor results.

No problem. Two wins and two narrow 1-0 defeats reflected a quartet of impressive performances. While you can’t read too much into these games, there’s no doubt we proved ourselves able to live with high-quality opposition.

As Phil Parkinson plays in cool in the transfer market, waiting for the best players to make decisions on potential moves, we saw just one new arrival on our US tour.

I certainly liked what I saw.

Danny Imray made a very impressive first impression. Driving forwards, he had pace and directness, and an early turn which left two Sunderland players in his wake showed he had creativity and imagination too.

The first time he got into a crossing position was a key test. Plenty of wide players flatter to deceive, looking sensational but ultimately having no end product. 

Would Imray just sling some filth into the box, leaving the strikers to watch it soar over their heads? Not a bit of it! Instead, he spotted Kieffer Moore smart movement towards the near post around ten yards out and cut a sharp pull back to him.

The weight on the pass was good, and Moore was unlucky that an alert defender spotted the danger and got close enough to block his first time snapshot.

The incident told us a couple of important things beyond the obvious. Firstly, Imray is not going to fall into the trap of hurling rubbish high crosses into the box in the hope that a man-mountain like Moore will be able to make something of it. Instead, he looks to pick a player out, giving them a chance to shoot first time if they choose.

Secondly, and equally as revealing about Moore as Imray, he read the superior movement of an experienced international striker with plenty of Premier League games under his belt.

Within every team are partnerships, little micro-organisms with in the whole whose harmonious interaction guarantees the efficient running of the entire body. Imray’s ability to instantly spot the movement of an intelligent player suggests his possesses a level of sophistication.

Also, he doesn’t fall into the lazy trope so many media pundits and fans are guilty of, namely that Kieffer Moore is big and good in the air, so he’s a fixed point and you just have to swing high balls in his rough direction and leave him to it.

Moore is far more sophisticated than that, and his decision to attack the space ten yards out rather than hare into the six-yard box showed that. Imray reading his intention and picking him out strongly suggested he has assimilated a lot in his brief training opportunities with the side and has a pleasing level of game intelligence.

There were a couple of interactions in the second half which made me feel equally encouraged, this time with Ollie Rathbone.

We all know Rathbone would be handy in a dry cleaner’s as he loves to press. When Rathbone came on Imray started to do so very effectively, and there were a couple of moments when the duo put Sunderland’s defenders into some difficulty.

Again, you felt this was a sign of Imray’s game intelligence as well as an indication of impressive stamina. It also showed that he was smart enough to take up advanced positions which allowed him to be ready to pounce when Rathbone triggered a press.

Imray did put in a couple of orthodox crosses, and they were whipped pleasingly into inviting areas. He defended well too, his recovery pace complemented by the capacity to put in a robust tackle.

When he landed awkwardly after going up for a header late in the first half and stayed down, my heart was in my mouth, forcing out the half-eaten pretzel I’d picked up for free from the press kitchen.

Thankfully, Imray recovered, because if that was an indication of what is to come from him, the first capture of our transfer window is a very exciting one.

Also, young players, who don’t have to be registered, made cases for being considered for use this season rather than be loaned out.

Harry Ashfield looked impressive when asked to play in a deeper midfield role than usual; Bailey Cadamarteri made an impact as a number ten; Aaron James showed reliability and flexiblility; and Alex Moore made some exciting breakthrough performances.

The latter two are likely to make temporary moves to further round their games, while Ashfield and Cadamarteri might benefit from six months of regular football at a high level before challenging for places in areas of the pitch where we are stacked in talent.

Whatever we do, these factors and Wrexham’s quality without the ball add up to a strong pre-season. However, the only way to properly judge the summer programme of games is to see how it prepared us for the first game of the season.

Let’s see how we shape up at The Riverside on Friday.