A regular summer jaunt - but Portsmouth's opener will have no pre-season feel about it

The Blues return to competitive action for the first time since suffering play-off defeat to Oxford almost two months ago.

Rather than their campaign starting in League One as usual, Kenny Jackett's side are instead in Carabao Cup first-round action amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

A summer jaunt to Stevenage is hardly strange for the Blues, having played friendlies against the League Two side for the past two years.

However, Gallen stressed Pompey will be treating the clash with the utmost amount of seriousness as they aim to open the new term with a victory.

He said: ‘We weren't supposed to play this game until next week. We felt the boys were ready and it's good we're playing a competitive game.

‘Pre-season games just aren't real and it's just nice to have a proper game.

‘We had nine weeks training before the play-offs and it feels like we've just been training and training.

‘It's a proper game in the Carabao Cup and we want to play well and try to win.

‘It won't have a pre-season feel about it - I hope not anyway!’

Stevenage were relegated from League Two last season but had their Football League place reprieved.

That was after Macclesfield were handed a four-point deduction, which instead sent them down to the National League.

Boro have had an overhaul over their squad this summer, with 12 fresh faces arriving as they aim to avoid another dogfight at the bottom of the table.

Although Pompey are heavy favourites to win the tie, Gallen is adamant there will be no complacency from the visitors.

He added: ‘They've got a new management team in Alex Ravell and Lennie Lawrence, which is one person starting off and one who's got a lot of experience.

‘Lennie will be a huge help and someone Alex can rely on and they've brought in a load of new players so have a fresh feel about it.

‘They'll be looking to start well as we are. It'll be a tough game and every game that we play is tough.

‘We're a big club and people raise their game against us. We've got to play well and make sure that we're ready for it.’