Gareth Evans striving to bounce back from his Portsmouth frustration

The Blues stalwart totalled 17 starts last term – and featured just twice in League One in 2020.

According to Evans, it represents his lowest number of appearances in a campaign.

However, the 32-year-old was granted a start in last weekend’s Carabao Cup victory over Stevenage.

Kenny Jackett’s side next face Colchester in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday evening and then Shrewsbury in League One on September 12.

And Evans is hoping his recent involvement signifies a greater first-team presence in the 2020-21 campaign.

He told The News: ‘Last season was frustrating for me.

‘The campaign before ended in heartache against Sunderland and I was expecting to sort of still be in the frame.

‘However, I didn’t play anywhere near as much as I wanted to last season, there's no getting away from that.

‘Coming into this season, there was the uncertainty of how much football I’m going to play.

‘Last year was a bit of an anomaly for some reason. I started 10 league games, which is my worst tally in my career so far. That was a difficult one to take.

‘This is the last year of my contract. I have every intention of staying at the club and fighting for my place and seeing what happens.

‘Hopefully I can get myself back into the match-day squad because towards the end of last season I wasn’t even making that.

‘I don’t feel like I’m 32 years old and a couple of years away from hanging my boots up. I still feel really fit and have a lot of running left in the legs.

‘I believe I’m capable of making and scoring goals on a weekly basis for the club. But that is down to whether you get picked or not. Hopefully I will.’

Evans has now featured 216 times for Pompey, scoring 38 goals, as he enters his sixth Fratton Park campaign.

It also represents the final year of a contract he last signed in March 2019.

And the former Fleetwood midfielder is hoping his Stevenage selection is the beginning of more regular first-team outings

He added: ‘I obviously started the first game of the season against Stevenage in the Carabao Cup and it seems like I’m back in the attacking three.

‘But you don’t know, you just have to see. You never know with Pompey.

‘You can start the first game of the season and then not play. I started against Shrewsbury last year and then didn’t play a hell of a lot after that.

‘You just have to keep working hard, keep proving your worth to the team and the squad, and hope you’re in and around it.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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