Portsmouth's plans for blank weekend after axing Bristol City friendly to play Stevenage

Pompey are unlikely to organise a friendly for their blank weekend ahead of the League One campaign.
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But Joe Gallen says the Blues haven’t ruled out finding an opponent for Saturday, September 5 depending on how they fare in their 2020-21 season opener against Stevenage tomorrow (3pm).

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That was because Pompey already have a hectic opening to the term due to the delayed start amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Blues have had only two pre-season matches – against Norwich under-23s and Brighton – heading into the upcoming campaign.

They have two more remaining games, against Stevenage and then Colchester in the EFL Trophy, before their third-tier curtain-raiser against Shrewsbury on Saturday, September 12.

One more fixture before the Shrews’ visit to Fratton Park isn't completely off the cards – but it is doubtful.

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Assistant-boss Gallen said: ‘We're going to leave that weekend open in terms of seeing how things go on Saturday.

Ronan Curtis in pre-season action against Stevenage last summer. Picture: Joe PeplerRonan Curtis in pre-season action against Stevenage last summer. Picture: Joe Pepler
Ronan Curtis in pre-season action against Stevenage last summer. Picture: Joe Pepler

‘At the moment, it is open and the reason why is because it's going to be Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday and Saturday for a numerous amount of weeks.

‘We feel we might not need a game but it is open for that to change if we need.

‘There's a game against Colchester and if we beat Stevenage then the second round of the Carabao Cup comes around pretty quick.

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‘There are plenty of games coming, a shed load of games coming over the next coming months.’

Pompey rearranged their clash with Stevenage as they were wary of how many games they will play in the opening weeks of the season.

The Blues would also have been without the likes of Ronan Curtis (Republic of Ireland) and Craig MacGillivray (Scotland) if they were called up for international duty, although both were omitted by their respective countries.

Gallen added: ‘There were two reasons why we moved the game. Next week is an international weekend and there was potential for some of our players to be in the international teams.

‘We'd have rather gone to Stevenage with a full squad.

‘Then we felt like we were ready to play and wanted a proper fixture rather than another pre-season friendly.’