Jos Luhukay says Wednesday head to Wigan on Saturday with weeks of hard work under the belt during pre-season.
The squad re-grouped as early as the final week in June to begin an intensive pre-season programme.
Over the past five weeks, Luhukay has seen players return to full training and play vital minutes in pre-season fixtures.
He told swfc.co.uk: “It was really important all the players made minutes for themselves.
“We saw the last 30 minutes against Villarreal for Steven Fletcher, he had two or three good moments maybe to score.
“It was good for all the players to have that last chance to get minutes ahead of the first game on Saturday.
“For Steven, it’s very important that week to week, game by game he is feeling better.
“He came into the game in good shape and showed he is a very talented striker for us.
“We have most of the players back, Joost van Aken has been on the sides for six months so it was important for him to come back to the team also.
“So we are happy that at the end of pre-season we have most players back in the team.”
Following the 3-1 Villarreal reverse, Luhukay underlined his satisfaction with the hard work of the team as attention turns to the season-opener on Saturday.
He added: “We have five weeks of very good work behind us and we are happy with our preparation.
“We know the last two results in pre-season were not positive but that is not important as to whether we have a good start or not a good start.
“What matters now is having 100% focus on Wigan this weekend and performing our best to win the points.”