Wait goes on to learn Spain opponents, but Portsmouth boss relishing summer schedule

Nonetheless, John Mousinho is convinced next month’s warm-weather training camp will reap dividends.

The Blues head to southern Spain on July 2 for a six-day stay near Malaga.

During that time away from Fratton Park, a fixture is planned for Thursday, July 6, with the squad returning home the following day.

With organising ongoing, the wait continues for supporters to learn the identity of the opposition – and the venue where it is to be staged.

In the meantime, Mousinho is relishing the opportunity to train his players in a different environment as they prepare for the 2023-24 campaign.

He told The News: ‘Having a trip away in pre-season breaks things up really nicely, with warm weather especially important if you are asking players to do 2-3 sessions a day.

‘It’s a different environment and, over those six days, will give us access to the players 24-hours-a-day.

‘That ensures we can get into them not just training and the physical side of it, but allows us to start talking about tactics and what we want to develop on that side.

‘Pre-season is going to be a long six-week stint, we’re going to be demanding a lot of them, so to do it away from here in a different hotel in a nice part of the world is a real bonus.

‘The second week of pre-season will also be a good time to get a friendly in there.

‘The players will come back pretty fit anyway, so, after 10-12 days of pre-season, they’ll be ready to play at least 45 minutes in a game.

‘That first friendly of pre-season is something everybody looks forward to, it will be one everyone can mark in their calendars when it is confirmed.’

Pompey’s players are scheduled to be back in training on Monday, June 26 at their Copnor Road base.

Upon returning from their Spanish training camp, they have friendlies lined-up against Bognor (July 11), Gosport (July 14), Hawks (July 15), AFC Wimbledon (July 25), and Bristol City (July 29).

In addition, there’s that July 6 fixture in Spain, which is still to be clarified.

Mousinho added: ‘The priority when booking a pre-season camp is to get the right facility, with Spain fitting that.

‘We don’t go away for the sake of it, we go away because we want a good football pitch, a good training centre and decent facilities around that.

‘We want to make sure that, should we go away from the training ground, it’s somewhere a bit better in a different environment with some nice weather.’