Marlon Pack sends new message as Portsmouth pre-season begins
Portsmouth are back in pre-season training as they prepare for another year in the Championship.
The Blues finished 16th last season, surviving with two games to spare, although many believe this campaign could be tougher with three strong teams having been promoted from League One.
The fixtures for the upcoming season will be released on Thursday (26 June), with the season due to begin on 8 August.
Marlon Pack sends out new pre-season message
Pompey has released footage of their first pre-season training session on their social media channels, which mostly featured running and fitness drills.
All of Portsmouth’s biggest stars were in attendance, including Josh Murphy, Colby Bishop and Matt Ritchie.
Portsmouth captain Marlon Pack was there too, and he released a brutal verdict on the session in a new Instagram story.
It read: “Pre-Season number 17 and it still doesn’t get any easier.”
The post would have related to the intense fitness program that professional footballers have to undergo to prepare for the new season.
At 34 years old, Pack will be more used to it than most of Portsmouth’s squad, with this his fourth pre-season since returning to the south coast.
Portsmouth will try to get their transfer business done early
It’s no secret that Portsmouth are trying to recruit a host of new players before the season begins in August.
The Blues made their first summer signing when Australian playmaker Adrian Segecic signed a three-year deal, arriving from Sydney FC.
John Mousinho has seemingly missed out on long-time target Rob Atkinson, though, as the centre-half has penned a new deal with Bristol City.
| Portsmouth pre-season fixtures | |
| Woking (A) | 15 July |
| Farnborough (A) | 16 July |
| Crawley (A) | 19 July |
| Reading (A) | 26 July |
| Havant and Waterlooville (A) | 29 July |
There will be plenty of negotiations going on behind the scenes, and Mousinho will try to get his business done as early as possible.
This would allow any potential new signings more time to settle at the club and become familiar with Portsmouth’s tactics ahead of the new Championship season.
Mousinho will definitely be in the market for a new centre-midfielder after loan stars Freddie Potts and Isaac Hayden returned to their parent clubs. Another centre-half could also be a priority now that the move for Atkinson seems unlikely to materialise.
Pompey are due to fly out to Bratislava for an intense training camp on 5 July before their selection of pre-season friendlies begins.
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