Mauricio Pochettino praised his United States players for their "massive effort" in beating Canada to make it four wins in a row.

Justin Ellis' 29th-minute goal – his second in three games this window – earned the USA a 1-0 win over their neighbours in Minnesota.

Tuesday's friendly at Allianz Field lacked any real quality, with Luc De Fougerolles firing against the bar from the best chance Canada had to equalise.

However, Pochettino says the effort put in by his players on the back of wins over Peru, Chile and Mexico is what pleased him most.

"It was a massive effort," he told reporters. "We played four games in two weeks.

"To play with the same intensity, the same commitment, the same passion is not easy.

"I'm not happy because we won. I'm happy because of the performance and the commitment that the players showed."

Pochettino made six changes from the 3-0 win over Mexico, with rising star Cavan Sullivan dropping out and not featuring from the bench.

Mathis Albert and Brian Schwake were handed full debuts as Pochettino again used this first post-World Cup window as a chance to experiment.

"We need to give credit to the players," he said. It was really tough to play in Orlando, St Louis, Arizona because of the time zones.

"To be honest, as a coach it has been really tough and for the players they have needed to perform. 

"Nobody has said anything negative and that is why we have performed."

Canada, who like fellow co-hosts USA were eliminated from the World Cup at the last-16 stage, edged the shot count in Minnesota.

However, a lack of cutting edge proved costly as Jesse Marsch's side saw their two-game winning run come to an end.

"We just weren't decisive enough and aggressive enough to get first contacts and finish off a bunch of the plays," Marsch told reporters. 

"There were a lot of 'almost' actions, but we were not effective enough in the final third. 

"Some of it is decisiveness and some of it is understanding different roles. But I don't want to be overly critical. 

"There's a lot of good stuff going on, but you want to see a team on the pitch that's more decisive and ready to take moments. We're not quite there yet."