The Portsmouth fan out to slay Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League

A little slice of royal blue resides in the Norwegian city of Haugesund, which sits in the south-west of the country.

One of the country’s smallest cities, their club FK Haugesund have advanced to the third qualifying round of the Europa League after finishing fourth in last season’s Eliteserien.

And at the helm is manager Jostein Grindhaug, who has spent much of his career with the outfit as a player.

Grindhaug also happens to be a Pompey fan, as highlighted by the fact he conducted press duties in a Blues shirt ahead of the clash with PSV tomorrow.

The 46-year-old is also a member Pompey.no, the Scandanavian supporters’ club which also boasts Norway under-21 keeper Sondre Rossbach among their members.

Haugesund, who play their home games at the 8,754 capacity Haugesund Stadion, currently sit eighth in their domestic league after some mixed fortunes this term.

But that hasn’t stopped them turning on the style in European competition to date this summer.

They’ve already defeated Northern Ireland outfit Cliftonville 6-1 over two legs to advance to the second round, where they picked up an impressive scalp in the shape of Austrian big guns Sturm Graz 3-2 on aggregate.

Now they welcome PSV in the latest sizeable test of their credentials.

The runners-up of last season’s Eredivisie boast the likes of highly-regarded Mexican international winger Hirving Lozano and emerging star Steven Bergwijn in their ranks, with Dutch international Ibrahim Afellay taking the captain’s armband from Luuk de Jong after he moved to Spain with Seville, following 32 goals last term.

Grindhaug will have to outfox former Dutch international skipper Mark van Bommel, if the Arabs are to progress.

The prize will be a place in the two-legged Europa League play-offs at the end of the month with success there seeing the winners advance to the group stages of the competition won by Chelsea last season.

And Pompey supporters will be willing the Norwegians to cause an upset with the news one of their own is at their helm.