Ibane Bowat, Jacob Farrell and rain: Behind the scenes at Portsmouth's pre-season homecoming

Teddington has new tenants, with Pompey’s pre-season returning to its rightful home, namely in Hilsea.

Wednesday marked the start of full training at the Blues’ Copnor Road training base, albeit with the recently overworked sun having taken a deserved summer holiday, replaced by rain in the air.

It was effectively Pompey’s fourth day of training, having previously utilised facilities at The Lensbury hotel since Friday, a venue positioned along the banks of the River Thames and now being used by Southampton.

Nonetheless, it was the first opportunity to work on the relaid pitches at the Blues’ training ground, with the local media invited in to watch.

Hearteningly, a number of last season’s walking wounded were in action, among them Jacob Farrell, who has endured a wretched time with injury since his arrival in England.

Certainly the left-back, along with Hayden Matthews, Paddy Lane, Thomas Waddingham and Zak Swanson looked well up to speed, having finished the previous season in the treatment room.

Farrell, in particular, looked more robust and had grown, perhaps to be expected given he has been out of our sight for so long and is now a year older than the 21-year-old who joined from Central Coast Mariners to provide competition to the ever-dependable Connor Ogilvie.

Ibane Bowat back out on grass

Elsewhere, Ibane Bowat was not involved in full training, instead spending his time alongside the main pitches working with first-team fitness coach Max Whittingham.

His programme appeared to mainly involve running, nonetheless it represented ongoing progress from the serious knee injury sustained in September 2024, just 12 days after his Fratton Park arrival.

Of all those injured last season, his return promises to be the most intriguing, having yet to feature for the club. It is hopeful the left-footed centre-half will be in action during the pre-season schedule.

Overall, 18 outfield players were involved in the morning session, plus five goalkeepers, who began the day working with Joe Prodomo in the far corner of the training ground.

Adrian Segecic looking lively

Pompey’s sole summer signing to date, Adrian Segecic, was, of course, involved and buzzed around with energy and purpose during the various drills and routines overseen by John Mousinho and coaches Jon Harley and Zesh Rehman.

Inevitably sticking close to his three Australian compatriots, the diminutive attacker certainly didn’t look overawed or nervous, being quite prepared to appeal decisions whenever necessary.

Another noticeable attendee was Reuben Swann, returning from a season spent with Havant & Waterlooville, yet clearly having bulked up physically, having arrived as a teenager from AFC Sudbury last summer.

Pompey’s plans for the midfielder will be interesting, having impressed during his time with the Hawks, albeit never managing to establish himself as a starter, instead serving regularly off the bench.

Flying to Slovakia on Saturday

As for the newly-laid training ground pitches, they stood firm following summer work involving their refurbishment and the installation of new pitch irrigation to boost drainage.

Having met the minimum requirement of six weeks to recover, it was decided Pompey would spend three days at The Lensbury hotel in Middlesex to enable the playing surface to have even more time to bed in.

Still, they won’t be used at all next week when a 25-man Pompey squad heads to Slovakia on Saturday for a seven-day training camp.

And with Bratislava temperatures soaring to 36 degrees yesterday, the Blues will no doubt soon be longing for an overcast day in Hilsea with rain in the air.

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