Manager Andy Butler was proud of how his squad competed against Sheffield United in their first pre-season friendly.
The Belles had a narrow 2-0 defeat against the FA Women's Championship side, and Butler took a lot of positives from.
He said: "Sheffield United are a very good side and they played some of their strongest players against us.
"A 2-0 defeat is not a disgrace. We have experimented in the game, playing some players in different positions.
"It was a good run out.
"Against Sheffield United, I was looking to see what their mentality and character was like against a really good footballing side.
"Sometimes you can crumble, but they showed leadership and qualities that I want to see and made some good decisions."
The squad has been back in pre-season training for a few weeks now, and as Butler continues to build his squad for the new campaign, he has been impressed by what he has seen.
He added: "It was great to be back. We've been back in training for a few weeks now and every single girl has worked so hard in training.
"We have had a few trialists and around and a few who have come up from the development side. In our first training session, we had 38 players with us."