Pep Guardiola has spent the past few days telling his Manchester City squad to forget about the notion of Premier League rotation now they are match sharp.
So with Champions League qualification already sealed, Tuesday night effectively acted as a trial for tasks to come.
Seven of them had watched on as City slapped five past Burnley and the challenge was to force a way into the team for Fulham. Or more pertinently, the one heading for Old Trafford in just over a week’s time.
Ultimately they carved enough chances to maintain their 100 per cent record but those all arrived rather late on a fairly dry night.
It will certainly be interesting to see how many have enhanced their chances following Guardiola’s first goalless draw in Europe since 2015. Despite all that, the City boss appeared happy enough.
‘They showed me today that everybody s fit, everybody is ready,’ he said with bite.
‘So I can trust these players who played today and Burnley. They have competition between them now. That is good news.’