However, that doesn’t mean head coach John Mouisnho won’t rotate his side for the fixture at New Lawn given the strength and depth of the squad assembled at Fratton Park over the course of the summer.
Indeed, it’s likely the Blues boss will utilise his squad as he looks to get vital minutes into legs and takes into consideration last Saturday’s opener against Bristol Rovers and this weekend’s league trip to Leyton Orient.
Mousinho also confirmed on Monday that his latest new addition – attacking midfielder Alex Robertson – will be available to feature. Although, he might resist the temptation to throw the Manchester City youngster straight into the deep end.
Speaking ahead of the game, he said: ‘We’re just going to approach it as if it’s any other game. We want to win the game and were going to go very, very strong – and I think that’s the best way to approach these games.
‘We find ourselves in the fortunate position of having some really excellent performers over the weekend – starters and subs alike – and we have three or four players who didn’t even make the squad who actually, we feel, can impact the game.
‘I think we’re in a really strong position in terms of the squad and I think whatever side we do pick is going to be strong and hopefully, from our perspective, it’s good enough to challenge and win the game.
‘There’ll definitely be some rotation. There’s certainly a lot of scope within individuals, some are certainly better off playing Saturday and Tuesday, others are better off having a rest, so we’ll take that on an individual basis.’
Here’s how we feel Pompey will line up tonight.
1. Portsmouth Head Coach John Mousinho during the EFL Sky Bet League 1 match between Portsmouth and Bristol Rovers at Fratton Park, Portsmouth, England on 5 August 2023.
Pompey travel to Forest Green tonight in the Carabao Cup Photo: Jason Brown
2. Goalkeeper - Will Norris
John Mousinho could be tempted to hand back-up option Ryan Schofield his competitive Blues debut, with the summer arrival from Huddersfield yet to feature for the club in any capacity to date. There's an argument, though, that fellow new arrival Norris needs consistent game team in the Pompey team to help with his transition. He's done well to date and the head coach might want to keep him involved in order to avoid over-rotating. Photo: Jason Brown
3. Right-back - Zak Swanson
The former Arsenal youngster didn't even make it onto the bench for the season-opener against Bristol Rovers given Pompey's strength and depth. He'll find it hard to dislodge Joe Rafferty from the right-back berth, but Mousinho will want to utilise his talent as much as possible when appropriate - and tonight's game at Forest Green is one of those opportunities. Photo: Jason Brown
4. Centre-back 1 - Sean Raggett
Raggett had to make do with a place on the bench on Saturday as Mousinho opted to play Regan Poole on the right-hand side of his central defensive pairing. Playing second fiddle will be hard for Raggett to take given his importance to Pompey over the past four seasons. The former Norwich and Lincoln man should feature tonight - and he'll be desperate to prove his worth as a new era kicks in at Fratton Park. Photo: Jason Brown