The wait for the new Championship campaign is finally over as Pompey make the trip to face Oxford United this afternoon.
The Blues begin the season on the road and will be aiming to put their struggles away from Fratton Park last term safely to bed.
John Mousinho’s men, of course, won just three times on their travels - one of which came at the Kassam Stadium in February.
Indeed, Pompey head into the new campaign off the back of a positive pre-season, which saw them go unbeaten throughout the summer - and failed to concede in any of their friendlies.
There have also been plenty of new additions at Fratton Park during the transfer window, with six faces arriving through the doors so far.
Adrian Segecic, John Swift, Mark Kosznovszky, Luke Le Roux and Florian Binachini have sealed a move to the south coast. Meanwhile, Yang Min-hyeok completed his switch to the Blues on a season-long day on Friday - but it remains to be seen if he will feature for Mousinho’s men this afternoon.
Pompey will be back by a packed-out away end, with the Fratton faithful quickly selling their allocation for the opening day contest.
The Blues will be hoping to kick-off the new campaign with three points and face an Oxford United side, who finished 17th in the Championship last season.
With anticipation growing ahead of this afternoon’s curtain raiser, we’ve taken a look at the early team news from both camps as they prepare to get their season underway.
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1. Oxford v Pompey: early team and injury news
The early team and injury news as Pompey face Oxford United. | Getty Images
2. Ciaron Brown - Out
The centre-back is still recovering from knee ligament damage and remains sidelined for the hosts. The 27-year-old has been absent since April having sustained the injury in a 3-1 defeat to QPR and has subsequently missed all of pre-season. | Getty Images
3. Harvey Blair - Out
Pompey came through pre-season roughly unscathed. Blair, however, played no part after suffering a hamstring injury on the final day of the season against Hull. Mousinho isn’t expecting the winger to return for a couple of months. Photo: Jason Brown
4. Luke Harris - Out
Harris is another who is expected to miss Pompey’s visit this afternoon. The striker, who signed from Fulham at the end of July, will likely be absent for the opening weeks of the new campaign as he continues his recovery from an ankle issue. | Getty Images