Now let's move up a gear - Everton star Mikel Arteta

"We wanted to get a result," said Arteta. "It wasn't easy because of the conditions and some other things but at least this will make us feel a little bit more confident.

"We can now look forward to the next game and hopefully when we get back, we will feel the benefit of all the hard work we have done here in the heat and the altitude.

"We are not the best in pre-season. We have never been the best in pre-season to be perfectly honest!

"But obviously the time has come when we need to start playing better.

"So it was good that we were a bit better than we had been against Chicago but we all know that we have got to improve a lot. There are also going to be players coming in who will improve the team."

Arteta, like so many of his team-mates, is still feeling his way back to form after injury but he thinks things will drop into place for manager David Moyes on the opening day of the new campaign.

"You are never going to be 100 per cent in the first league game," said Arteta.

"So that is why it is important to prepare properly now and I still think we are going to start well against Blackburn."