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Ipswich Town defender Issa Diop was pleased with how the side settled after a difficult opening spell in their pre-season friendly against Bundesliga side Union Berlin, with the Blues conceding early in the sweltering 35-degree heat, but recovered impressively to score three times before half-time through Jack Clarke, Emmersonn and skipper Dara O’Shea. Union Berlin did pull one back shortly after the restart, yet Town finished strongly, with Kasey McAteer coming off the bench to seal a confident victory late on. Diop admitted the early stages were challenging, but he felt the team adapted quickly. “It was a good game, I think,” he said. “We started a little bit slow because they were pressing high and strong, but then we figured out how to get out of their pressure and we scored a couple of goals, which is good.” Despite the win, Diop was clear about the areas to tighten up. “We conceded two, so we will try to avoid that for next week.” Heat, Fitness and Tactical Growth Even though the conditions at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei were extreme, Diop took positives out of the game. “It was good!” he chuckled. “It’s good to play in those conditions. It might be like this for some of the games in the season so yeah, it was good.” Ipswich’s pre-season has been steadily built towards Premier League readiness, and Diop believes the squad’s physical and tactical cohesion is improving “Physically, we’re getting better and better. And we’ve played more minutes together, so we understand each other and what the gaffer wants better. I hope it’s going to be good for next week.” Settling Quickly at Portman Road He joined Ipswich at the end of last month and settled in very quickly, and he already feels at home within the squad. “Very good group, very good lads, very good coach, so I’m enjoying it.” He is also quick to praise Gary O’Neil’s clarity and Premier League experience The manager knows the Prem. He has very good ideas, and we’ll try to do what he wants on the pitch. It works well, and now we’re going to try to do it on Saturday in the Premier League.” With under a week to go until the Premier League kicks off, Diop looks to play a key role in the side this season