Fratton Park set for Blues pre-season friendly

Fratton Park has been earmarked for a summer friendly as Pompey close-in on finalising their pre-season plans.

Michael Appleton is hoping to announce the Blues’ full fixture line-up before the middle of next week.

That will include a home clash with an as yet unnamed English side.

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The match – which will be the only fixture at Fratton – will be staged once Pompey have returned from their Spanish training camp at the end of July.

Appleton’s men are already booked in to open pre-season at the Hawks on Saturday, July 14.

They will then fly out to Spain where they will stay from July 16-26 and play two friendlies.

That includes a trip to Gibraltar – on Friday, July 20 – for a game against the national side who play at the Victoria Stadium.

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The second match of the tour is still to be revealed, although the fixture will be played in southern Spain. Another friendly already announced is a trip to AFC Wimbledon on Wednesday, August 8.

In the meantime, Appleton is putting the finishing touches to the rest of his pre-season programme.

He said: ‘Maybe everything can be revealed by the end of the week or Tuesday/Wednesday next week.

‘We are just waiting for a couple of clubs to get back to us so we can finalise a few things.

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‘One of the matches will be at Fratton Park, with the rest of them away from home.

‘I’m not being elusive or anything, we’ll tell the fans as soon as possible so they can come and cheer us on.’

Last summer, Fratton hosted Chelsea in its sole pre-season friendly.