The final whistle on Saturday brought an end to the visible pre-season matches for Stevenage - and bar one behind closed door game at St George's Park, all roads now lead to Northampton Town and the start of the League One campaign.

I didn't see all of the matches but of the ones I did, there was plenty of things to note.

So here are some thoughts of how Stevenage are looking heading into the new year.

1.Set-pieces are looking exciting

The first corner of the season up at St Neots was floated from the left wing by Jake Forster-Caskey and powered home in the middle of the six-yard box by Carl Piergianni.

That combination happened again on Saturday against Tottenham, after Nick Freeman had got on the end of another JFC cross for the first.

Considering how many times I have moaned about professional footballers being unable to put a ball into the middle, hitting the first man most times, this has got me excited for the season and could be a hugely profitable avenue for Boro.

But it doesn't stop at corners. Suddenly there is Alex MacDonald who is a real threat from free-kicks.

If there are concerns over the strikers getting 15 or 20 goals a season, then the more that can come from set-pieces is only a benefit.

2.Is fitness even better than last season?

The way Stevenage pressed against Spurs would suggest that.

The pace at which they went at the young Tottenham defence had the teenagers in a real panic at times, and poor Aaron Maguire will be seeing Jordan Roberts in his nightmares.

But the impressive thing was the way they kept it going for the majority of the opening hour before substitutions affected the flow of the game.

And it wasn't just Saturday. Jake Forster-Caskey has come back looking lean (not that he was out of shape last year by any stretch) and he could be set for a big year if he stays injury free.

Jordan Roberts was on fire and is another who looks in tip-top condition, even acknowledging that fact after the game, and the newer players are getting up to speed quickly.

Boro's ability to go for 90 minutes and more was a huge boost to their good start last year.

It looks like it will be again.

3.Lack of another striker still an issue

That's not to say that the ones currently on board are not up to scratch but the likelihood of them getting a ton of goals is smaller than perhaps everyone would like.

Getting someone who will score lots is not that easy of course so perhaps it is a case of getting something different, someone who will act as a foil to the others.

It's not the end of the world if it doesn't happen but it would be another boost. And it might be solved shortly with two new players coming in.

4.The rebirth of Luther James-Wildin (and the opportunity being grasped by Kane Smith)

It's always been said that Luther can play centre-half, pre-season suggests that hypothesis was actually correct.

Playing on the right of the three has meant the loss of Dan Sweeney and Terence Vancooten has not been felt.

The boss has been happy. Speaking to me on Saturday, he said: "I've always said Luther James-Wildin is a natural to play at centre-back.

"He's big, he's strong, he's versatile, he's committed, he's got good pace and he's brave."

The thing is though, that is only part one of the equation.

James-Wildin's departure from his usual right-back position opened the door for Kane Smith to come in and boy, has he grasped that nettle.

He has looked in sensational form, even with some niggles of his own, but again it wasn't a surprise for the boss.

He added: "Everyone knows if you're playing a wing-back system and Kane Smith is in the team, then you have a real asset. 

"Some of his touches against Tottenham in the second half where he’s pulled it out of the sky show he’s a real classy player."

But here's the question. Would you drop Luther when TVC and Sweeney are back, probably not would be my guess, and the same goes for Kane.

Some interesting team choices to come in the next few weeks.

5.Squad size

A small squad in the opening half of last year survived mostly because of the lack of injuries.

But it caught up with them then and it has already caught up this year with injuries to Sweeney, Vancooten, List and Anderson.

The weird thing is there is still a month of the window to go and that's plenty of time to boost the number of players to around 22 or 23.

But the impending start of the league season naturally expedites things.

Two more players are coming in and the loan market is yet to fully kick into gear so while the current situation is not ideal, I'm not sure there is any need for outright panic just yet.