'It strange, but you've got to' - Former Portsmouth defender reveals tactic he'll use on emotional Fratton Park return with Preston North End

The defender, who came through the ranks of the Blues’ academy to make 136 first-team appearances and win the League Two title with his hometown club, heads back at his beloved old stomping ground as a Preston North End player.

The Lilywhites, obviously, have their own agenda as they return to Fratton Park for the first time in 12 years, with Paul Heckingbottom’s 20th-placed side having their own battle at the wrong end of the Championship table.

Whatmough, now 28, is expected to start for the visitors after fellow defender Liam Lindsay picked up an injury in the midweek draw against Sunderland. 

Game time has been hard to come by for the Gosport-born ace this term as he’s remained on the fringes of the first team. But focused on what his current employers need from today’s game, Whatmough admitted he’ll be in game-mode until the final whistle is blown - despite his strong affinity for Pompey and the number of friends and family he’ll have in the home end come kick-off.

Speaking to Preston’s media team ahead of the game (3pm), Whatmough said: ‘It’s somewhere I hold really good memories. It’s a place I obviously came through at and a club that’s close to my heart, so it's going to be nice to go back and see some old faces of people that are still there - especially friends and family.

‘But it sort of all goes out the window for 90 minutes. It’s a cliche in football and in the industry that we're in, you've got to half-forget it for a bit and speak to them after the game.

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‘I think it literally is the industry that we’re in and you can switch it off. There’ll be a lot of my friends in the Fratton End who I won’t speak to leading up to (the game). I’ll pretend they’re not there and then after the game I’ll speak to them.

‘It’s strange, but you’ve got to do that. I’m a Preston player and I’ll put Preston first.’

Whatmough’s 13-year association with the Blues ended following the conclusion of the 2020- 21 season, when terms over a new contract could not be agreed. That allowed Wigan to swoop in and provide the longer-term security the player wanted for his young family.

Whatmough has been in the north-west ever since and joined Preston for an undisclosed fee in 2023. Since then, he’s featured 29 times for the Lilywhites. Yet his bond with the Blues remains.

He added: ‘I did really love my time there (at Pompey). To get a promotion at your boyhood club was a massive thing that I achieved there and memories that will always be there for me.

‘I’ll never take for granted what they did for me and the times that we shared together. Massive memories and ones that I can look back on at the end of my career and be grateful for.’