FRISCO, Texas This morning FC Dallas took part in its second intrasquad scrimmage in seven days as the team continues to build towards game-readiness.

Without regular competitive fixtures, these scrimmages are a crucial litmus test for the work being done in the daily training sessions during the week.

I thought it was a better scrimmage than last week in terms of overall positioning, decisions with and without the ball, defensive shapes andthe build (ups), head coach Luchi Gonzalez said. I saw both teams having interesting builds out of pressureand thats really important in our next step. I think the presses struggled because of the builds being pretty good today, but there were still some good moments.

Dallas hasnt played a full competitive game since early March, so fitness and rhythm are front of mind as the team looks to recover from its setback in Orlando.

I think theres a lot of positives to take from it, said midfielder Fafa Picault. The most important thing right now is that were getting rhythm, getting reps. It was a longer game today so its definitely helping with the fitness side and obviously tactically gelling with the group so thats very important.

Intrasquad scrimmages also add an aspect of competition, something Dallas players are certainly craving.

Mentally its important, Picault added. Obviously for the sake of adrenaline and competitiveness its very important to get these games because right now were not looking forward to(a game) on the weekend. So, its very important for us.

Its still unclear when FC Dallas will take the field again in competitive play, but Luchi and his staff are doing their best to keep the team engaged and ready for whenever its MLS season resumes.

Weve been adapting for months now and that doesnt change, Luchi said. We just got to keep making every day important and make sure that were progressing each day and that were not stagnant. And thats our job as a staff its my role as a head coach to make sure theres a purpose with each session, with each exercise, and that includes what we do off the field. Weve got to keep pushing that way and anticipate that were going to have a game soon.

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Luchi Gonzalez Pleased with Team's Progress in Second Intrasquad Scrimmage - FC Dallas