'No jolly up': The full extent of the gruelling Spanish training camp awaiting Portsmouth and their new signings

John Mousinho’s new-look squad flew out from Gatwick early on Sunday morning for five nights in Malaga.

The busy schedule includes a friendly against Gibraltar side Europa FC (Thursday, July 6), before returning to the south coast on Friday.

All nine new Blues faces will be present on the trip, including weekend signings Gavin Whyte and Kusini Yengi, as Mousinho strives to forge team bonding.

Yet Pompey’s head coach is adamant the focus remains on hard work – and plenty of it.

Mousinho told The News: ‘It’s really important this it isn’t seen as a jolly up, because 100 per cent it won't be.

‘It’s great to go out to Spain having a different environment, somewhere which has really good facilities, somewhere with sun, a pool and a beach, all those sorts of things. That's brilliant.

‘But we are there to work, first and foremost.

‘We will have triple sessions, out there three times a day. I know that sounds like a lot, but we’ll be sensible in terms of what we do with their workload.

‘One of those sessions will be a heavy conditioning session with a lot of football. Another will be largely based around a bit of tactical work – and the other will be a light conditioning gym session.

‘They will have a bit of time off, but we are not out there for a long time, from Sunday to Friday.

‘Sunday is a travel day, Friday is a travel day, so we just want to make sure we make the most of those four (full) days we have out there, then a bit of time off when we get back.

‘The lads will get plenty of time off throughout the season, lots of Sundays. Being out in Spain in the second week of pre-season means we have plenty of work to do.

‘So there won’t be a day off in the four days, which would really kill the momentum. Sunday and Friday are the travel days, but, from Monday to Thursday, they will be working.’

The Blues returned to the training pitch last Thursday following two days of medical and physical testing.

But their pre-season schedule will be ramped right up during this week’s Spanish training camp.

Mousinho added: ‘The most important thing in training last week was keeping those fitness levels.

‘Everybody will be stepping up another level from this week and there will be a lot more ball work and a bit more tactical work.

‘We’ve had nine new lads coming in. Some of them have met a couple of their new team-mates here and there, but, by and large, have never met each other before.

‘Now it’s a case of getting them in each others’ pockets for 24 hours a day, eating together, socialising together, all those sorts of things are really, really important.

‘We haven’t got long until the first day of the season (August 5), it will come around really, really quickly, and, by the time we play Bristol Rovers at Fratton Park, we need a squad that’s cohesive and together.

‘Pre-season trips can be really beneficial for that.’