Nemanja Vidic has admitted it will be a few weeks yet before he is back to top form.
The Manchester United skipper made an eagerly-awaited comeback from his cruciate operation in Norway yesterday.
Vidic managed an hour of the friendly with Valerenga in Oslo without a problem and is expected to play on Wednesday, when United take on Barcelona in Gothenburg.
With the Red Devils set to open their Premier League campaign against Everton at Goodison Park in a fortnight, Vidic needs to build up his fitness quickly.
However, the 30-year-old accepts the process will take time.
"After eight months without a game it's obvious that you have to get used to your positioning," he told MUTV.
"Fitness-wise it's not as it will be in a few weeks but my knee felt well and hopefully the next game will be better.
"I knew I would be out for six months. I tried to make the best of it and when I came back wanted to be the same as I was before the injury.
"That was my target. We'll see how good a job I did in that six months."
Speculation continues about deals for Robin van Persie and Lucas Moura being close to conclusion.
Former United skipper Gary Neville, who arranged for a reserve team to visit Forest Green yesterday as part of his Sustainability in Sport project, realises manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who did not travel to Norway, is eager to strengthen his squad, but that it will not be easy.
"The manager will always sign players he believes will develop into exceptional players," said Neville.
"There have been these stories about Lucas and no-one knows what is going to happen with Robin van Persie.
"It is always difficult to find the right players though.
"Manchester United already have an excellent squad who finished equal on points with the champions last year."
England Under-18 international Tyler Blackett caught the eye at the New Lawn during yesterday's 2-2 draw.
And Neville believes the match, although largely unnoticed, form an important part of any United youngster's footballing education.
"I remember playing in these types of games in pre-season as a youth player," he said.
"It is a big part of your education.
"You are playing in front of a few thousand as opposed to later in the season when there might be 500 for the reserves.
"Manchester United bring young players through and hopefully some of these lads can go on to become really great footballers."
