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Dutch visitors held as Pompey new boys show their worth

Pompey ended their pre-season programme with a creditable 1-1 draw at home to FC Utrecht.

The Dutch visitors gave Kenny Jackett's new-look side a good workout in front of more than 4,000 as Fratton Park staged its first game of the new season.

Sean Klaiber put Utrecht ahead with a superb goal a quarter of an hour into the game but anything he could do Anton Walkes could do better as the new permanent signing found the top corner from 25 yards just before the break.

There were outings for a number of new signings with Ronan Curtis and Tom Naylor among those to impress, although as often occurs in friendlies, a flurry of late substitutions did make the end of the game feel a little like a training session.

Boss Kenny Jackett was generally positive afterwards. He told the Pompey website: 'It wasn’t bad at all. I felt they dominated the first 20 minutes, but once we worked them out a bit then we came into our own.

'We had a lot of chances and were unfortunate not to score more goals, while we gave the majority of our squad the opportunity to play at Fratton Park. That was very good for the new lads and we made sure that everyone knew their jobs against a high-quality side.

'They scored a fantastic goal, but otherwise created very little against us, while we had opportunities in both halves. It was a good game for our supporters to see and not a typical British one, which they’ll see many of over the next nine months.'

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