Pompey lay down the welcome mat for fans

The Blues staged an open training session at Fratton Park, with hundreds of school children in attendance.

And Norwegian favourite Erik Huseklepp and emerging Aussie talent Ryan Williams then took part in an autograph signing session at the Pompey Megastore.

A steady stream of supporters took the opportunity to have their picture taken and grab a signature from the two talents.

That followed on from fans getting a sneak peak of their team gearing up for this weekend’s meeting with Derby.

Nearly 600 people filled the South stand as the autumn sunshine bathed down on them.

Physios Steve Allen and Wayne Gill were working with Benjani as he stepped up his return from his hamstring injury.

The Zimbabwean looked comfortable as he went about his work in front of the Fratton End.

After going through their warm-ups, the players were put through a series of drills, with Stuart Gray overseeing proceedings.

Pompey’s players have been raving about the sessions put on by Gray.

There were plenty of laughs and smiles as they went about a series of passing, crossing and shooting drills.

Chief executive David Lampitt looked on from the side of the pitch with new commercial director Nick Byrom. They saw the players warm down at the end of their session before taking time out to sign countless autographs for fans.

Joint Pompey caretaker boss Guy Whittingham, who also got involved in playing in the session, believes it was useful to give fans an insight into the team’s working day.

Whittingham said: ‘It’s good to see so many fans come out.

‘They can get a little flavour of how we work on a daily basis. Hopefully they’ve all seen it’s business as usual on the training pitch.’