Storm Ciarán: Update on FA Cup clash at Chesterfield with details over Portsmouth build-up amid severe weather

And the Blues boss has paid tribute to the club’s groundsmen for ensuring the severe weather hasn’t halted his side’s build-up to the first round - with everything currently pointing to the game going ahead.

The Environment Agency declared a major incident across Hampshire and the south coast, issuing 54 flood warnings in the area with winds expected to reach 65mph.

The impact of the storm was evident around Pompey’s Roko training base in Hilsea today, with large amounts of surface water visible.

But Mousinho explained his players have trained as usual this week - thanks to the club’s groundsmen and the pitches standing up to huge downpours.

When asked if the storm had affected the build-up to the game, Mousinho said: ‘No, it hasn’t (impacted) at the moment, we’ve managed to train every day.

‘The groundsmen have put in a lot of work, so when we were back in on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday we’ve had three consecutive days on the pitches. The pitches have actually been great and drained well.

‘The groundsmen have worked incredibly hard to makes sure we’ve got at least one pitch available at all times.

‘It’s really important to us because we don’t have many weeks when we have a free week going into a game. Next week is the perfect example with a Tuesday game like the week before.

‘So getting those training blocks into the lads is really useful for us, so really glad we’ve had that this week and credit to the groundsmen.

‘The conditions have been brutal, I can’t remember many times it being like this wet and it being sustained rain.

‘So credit to the guys - not just their work day in, day out but the work over the summer - because they drain properly and it takes a lot of work to make sure they do that.’

Chesterfield has seen plenty of rain but not to the extent witnessed in the south, with no issues with the SMH Group Stadium pitch at present.

Mousinho explained it’s business as usual in terms of the build-up to Sunday’s televised meeting.

He added: ‘I’ve not heard anything and we’ll prepare for it being on. If you start anticipating anything else it can play tricks with the mind.

‘We are desperate for it to be on. We don’t want a backlog and are excited to get the game going - we’ve not heard anything to say it won’t.’