One of the most interesting aspects of pre-season for supporters is the chance to see their club's potential stars of the future in action.
Certainly in the earlier games of the summer, with time to go before the league campaign begins, managers can give opportunities to some of their younger players. How will they fare against and alongside senior players and what qualities can they show in a game situation?
Burton Albion are no different. In Wednesday night's 5-0 win over Kidsgrove Athletic - the Brewers' first friendly of pre-season - there was a group of six Albion players with only three first-team appearances among them.
Goalkeepers Harry Campbell and Callum Hawkins, defender Jayden Cotterill, midfield duo Ben Fox and Joe Sbarra - the two to have made their senior Brewers debuts - and Marcus Dinanga up front all played against the Grove and are likely to get plenty more look-ins over the next fortnight or so.
Those players will be keen to make the most of the openings they get and prove their worth alongside the Brewers' experienced, first-choice names.
Nigel Clough said after Sbarra's debut on the final day of last season against Reading that he would look at the 18-year-old as a potential squad option in 2017/18. The opportunities will be there for these youngsters to make an impression and force their way into Clough's thinking in the Championship if they play well enough.
History shows that to be the case.
The Albion boss' adage has always been that if you are good enough, you are old enough to play in the first team.
Will Hughes and Mason Bennett were testament to that at Derby County, while Matt Palmer - admittedly already an established midfielder at the Pirelli prior to Clough's return - became an integral part of the Brewers team in the promotion run-in in 2016 and for the first half of last term.
It is early doors in pre-season, but those first outings for Albion's young stars were largely promising on Wednesday evening.
Fox took the headlines with a couple of fine goals in the second half. He and Dinanga were part of the second-half XI, and he saw plenty of possession centrally, with Kidsgrove dropping off more frequently as they tired.
His first strike owed much to Dinanga, who was part of a flowing counter-attack and set his fellow academy graduate through on goal, before Fox slotted a composed finish in off the base of the righthand post.
His second also involved Dinanga - and it was a thing of beauty, with that pair and Palmer linking some brilliant one-touch passes together before Fox curled a delightful left-footed effort just inside the far post.
Albion value a goalscoring midfielder, and Fox's fine finishes showed he can take on that role.
Dinanga also got himself on the scoresheet, rolling home calmly at the back post after having the effort laid on by Liam Boyce.
Being able to link up in a new partnership - as Dinanga did with Albion's record signing - is promising, and all Clough can ask of the young striker is to continue plundering goals, as he did for fun on loan at Matlock Town last term.
In the first half, Sbarra picked up from where he left off in that impressive debut cameo against the Royals back in May. His confidence on the ball is telling, and he regularly went in search of possession from fellow midfielders Matty Lund and Luke Murphy.
Sbarra acted as the primary link-up between the midfield and forward duo Matty Fryatt and Luke Varney - and a couple of classy flicks and touches almost unlocked Kidsgrove on the edge of their own box.
Out wide, Albion fans got their first sighting of Cotterill since he signed his first professional deal earlier in the summer.
He was stationed as the Brewers' right-wing-back in the first half, and showed good pace to get beyond his man regularly in the opening 20, latching onto some searching diagonal balls and delivering well.
Barring a couple of heavy touches, the Derby-born defender will relish more opportunities in what is likely to be a new position for him – and he will fancy facing up to a more of a defensive test at another time as well.
Goalkeeping pair Campbell and Hawkins were rarely troubled, with the latter replacing the former late in the second half.
When Campbell was called upon - once in each half - he reacted well, staying big and showing good awareness to deny a Kidsgrove effort inside the first minute, before fine reflexes allowed him to tip a goalbound strike over in the second half.
The chances for Albion’s younger players to shine in pre-season will keep coming. Brewers supporters – and management, of course – will be keeping tabs with interest.
