Coupe de France finalists Saint-Etienne enjoyed a 4-1 home win over fourth tier Rumilly on Saturday afternoon.
Claude Puel used the match to give minutes to the bulk of his squad and could count himself satisfied with the victory at Saint-Etienne's training ground as Les Verts stepped up their build-up to the Coupe de France final against Paris Saint-Germain at the Stade de France on July 24.
Jean-Philippe Krasso, signed from fourth tier Epinal, marked his ASSE debut with a goal with strikes also coming from Maxence Rivera, 18, and Charles Abi, 20, with the fourth goal being an own goal.
Denis Bouanga, ASSE's top scorer last season with 10 league goals, said: "It was tough physically as it was very hot. We had some strong spells and some week spells but it was our first game back and what I will remember is the win. It was good to be able to measure ourselves against another team and to get our sensations back after four months without playing."
Ruffier benched, Perrin gets 30 minutes
ASSE are back in action against Nice on Friday as Puel will continue to fine-tune things ahead of the Coupe de France final. Against Rumilly number one goalkeeper Jessy Moulin started the first-half and Stéphane Ruffier was an unused substitute. One-club man Loïc Perrin played the first 30 minutes of the second half after agreeing a contract extension.
