Kenny Jackett happy with Portsmouth's shortened friendly programme

The Blues are operating with a shorter pre-season fixture list than in previous years.

They have already registered a 2-0 success over Norwich under-23s last weekend at the Five Lakes resort in Essex.

Next it’s a trip to Brighton’s training ground on Saturday, a behind-closed-doors encounter which is not permitting press access or even allowing Pompey to report on proceedings.

The third and final outing will be the visit to Championship Bristol City on Saturday, August 29.

Unlike many clubs, this represents the second period this summer the Blues have been in training, following June’s preparation for the play-offs.

And Jackett insists that has enabled the Blues to top up fitness rather than start afresh following lockdown.

He told The News: ‘I do think three friendlies are enough.

‘We have come back fit – and you can always add more games. It’s very difficult to take a game away unless you have high numbers, sometimes they can stretch you and the last thing you need are injuries.

‘We were off for exactly a month. The players had an extended pre-season period for a two-game play-off campaign and then came back fit after a break.

‘We have a group there that we know and know their jobs. That’s something which has fallen into place quite quickly.

‘They look like they haven’t been away.

‘We’ve had two full weeks so far and you are making sure they look okay. I do feel comfortable that we are getting into a good routine.’

In terms of League One’s current make-up, only Pompey, Oxford, Fleetwood and Northampton trained during the lockdown period.

Those clubs were all involved in the play-offs and now occupy this level for the 2020-21 season.

However, Jackett hasn’t ruled out introducing local friendlies for Pompey XI fixtures to boost his younger players.

He added: ‘We may be involved in other matches, we are just looking now at how many players we have.

‘It is something we can perhaps build on with some local sides, particularly for the younger boys.

‘The framework is there. We haven’t got really high numbers necessarily, but the youngsters need game time as well.’

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