Wanderers began their round of pre-season fixtures with a behind-closed-doors friendly against League Two side Tranmere Rovers, finishing 1-1 at Lostock.
This was the Whites' final preparation before they fly over to Spain for their pre-season tour of Marbella, with John McAtee's goal was cancelled out by Josh Davison's leveller.
Steven Schumacher emphasised the importance of match minutes and remaining sharp through pre-season, and rotated accordingly with two teams taking to the field in both the first and second half, as the new campaign edges closer.
Tranmere had the first opportunity of the match when Omari Patrick was fouled outside the area. The forward picked himself up to take the free-kick and struck it well, forcing a good save from Luke Hutchinson. The rebound found its way back to Patrick, but his second attempt went well over the bar.
The opening goal came on 13 minutes through John McAtee. The forward picked up the ball inside the Tranmere half and tried his luck from distance, with his low, driven effort coming off the left-hand post and nestled in the goal.
Just after the half-hour mark, Wanderers almost doubled their lead following great link-up between forwards Charlie Warren and Daeshon Lawrence. Warren charged in from the right towards the area and laid the ball off to Lawrence who, on the turn, struck a shot towards the bottom corner but it just rolled wide.
A brilliant arching ball from McAtee found Carlos Mendes Gomes on the left flank as the winger ran in on goal. He took a slight nudge from the defender as he took the shot on, which sent the effort wide of the goal.
New signing Xavier Simons looked to make his mark in his first outing in Wanderers' colours after receiving the ball from McAtee in midfield. Letting fly with a fierce strike that looked destined for the top corner, Rovers 'keeper Luke McGee was a full-stretch to palm away the effort superbly.
Both teams changed their XIs during the break, and were straight back into the action.
Szabolcs Schön had the first effort of the second half following a corner. The ball was swung in but only initially cleared as far as the Hungarian international, who volleyed his effort into the ground and it rolled wide.
David Abimbola was causing the Tranmere defence all sorts of problems. Tranmere defender Nathan Smith had to grapple and pull the forward to contain him as the forward was typically all-action in his performance.
Max Conway was back in a Wanderers shirt for the first time following his season-long loan at Crewe Alexandra last season, with the left-sided defender producing a number of dangerous balls into the area which just needed a touch for the second goal.
With the game edging towards full-time, Tranmere equalised with five minutes to go. The away side won the ball high up-the-field, and striker Josh Davison put the ball into the back of the net as the game finished level.
It was a positive first workout for Wanderers as they need pack their bags and head to Marbella for a week of intense pre-season training.
Wanderers first half: Hutchinson, Osei-Tutu, Toal, Inwood, Taylor, Mendes Gomes, Simons, Sharples-Ahmed, Warren, McAtee, Lawrence
Wanderers second half: Trialist, Schön, Dacres-Cogley, Forino, Johnston, Conway, Morley, Thomason, Randall, Rice, Abimbola
Second Half substitute: Oliver Smith
Tranmere Rovers first half: McGee, Norman, O'Connor, Trialist, Brough, Taylor, Edwards, Kenneh, Patrick, Whitaker, Dennis
Tranmere Rovers second half: Murphy, West, Lowe, Smith, Turnbull, Bristow, Williams, Trialist, Jennings, Saunders, Davison
Pictures by Jake Horrocks.