Jamal Lowe and Crawley - now 13 months later Portsmouth are back in pre-season action

Jamal Lowe was in Pompey’s squad in their last pre-season friendly.
Pompey's last pre-season friendly was at Crawley on July 27, 2019 - now they will face Norwich under-23s on SaturdayPompey's last pre-season friendly was at Crawley on July 27, 2019 - now they will face Norwich under-23s on Saturday
Pompey's last pre-season friendly was at Crawley on July 27, 2019 - now they will face Norwich under-23s on Saturday

Now, 12 months and 20 days later, Kenny Jackett’s men are finally back in action.

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There were, of course, behind-closed-doors games at Reading and Brentford in June ahead of Pompey’s League One play-off campaign.

Yet Saturday signifies a return to true pre-season action – 386 days after that Crawley encounter.

That Broadfield Stadium clash would mark Lowe’s final involvement before being sold to Wigan, although he was an unused substitute.

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The winger’s Fratton Park career was winding down as he pushed for an exit, with his non-participation that afternoon another clear indicator he was on his way.

Similarly, fellow overlooked substitute, Louis Dennis, would also imminently leave for Leyton Orient for an undisclosed fee.

A crowd of 1,777, with 688 visitors, attended the fixture in which Gareth Evans and Tom Naylor netted in the Blues’ 2-1 victory.

Although Norwich loanee, Mason Bloomfield, did grab a stunning consolation goal from distance for Crawley.

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The attacker went on to grab four goals in 24 appearances during his season-long stay and is currently with non-league Hartlepool following his Canaries release.

Of Pompey’s side which started that day, only Christian Burgess, Anton Walkes and Ross McCrorie are no longer at Fratton Park.

That statistic can be used to demonstrate squad stability at Fratton Park – or a damning lack of recruitment over the last 12 months.

Still, Craig MacGillivray, Paul Downing, Lee Brown, Naylor, Marcus Harness, Evans, Ronan Curtis and Ellis Harrison are all expected to feature against Norwich under-23s on Saturday.

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Appearing off the bench that day at Crawley were Ben Close, Andy Cannon, Brandon Haunstrup and Brett Pitman, with the latter pair having left this summer.

Meanwhile, joining Lowe and Dennis as unused substitutes were Alex Bass, Oli Hawkins and James Bolton.

That encounter was Pompey’s final pre-season friendly ahead of the 2019-20 campaign’s kick-off at Shrewsbury.

Although a Pompey XI were in action three days later at Woking, consisting of fringe players, youngsters and those returning from injury.

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The Blues ran out 4-2 winners, with Alex Bass, Haji Mnoga, Matt Casey, Brandon Haunstrup, Josh Flint and triallist Richard Brindley starting.

Pitman (two) and fit-again Hawkins (two) were the scorers in front of a 1,603 crowd.

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