Pompey head to Oxdord for the first game of their 2025-26 Championship season knowing they must do better on the road this season than they did last.
It took them until mid-October to register an away win last term - and they only got three league victories on the road all season.
Oxford's Kassam Stadium was one venue where they won last season but skipper Marlon Pack has told the club website that although Pompey are determined to improve their away record, he does not buy the thoery the Blues have an easier start than a year ago.
He said of Oxford: 'They’re a side that are pretty comparable to us in terms of what we’ll both be looking to achieve. It’s usually tight when we play Oxford and we know it’s going to be a tough, physical battle – played at 100 miles per hour – so we'll have to stand up to that.
'We’re all aware that our away record needs to improve, but we did okay on the road at the back end of last season. The support will be as excellent as usual and I know the fans are going to stick with us throughout all the highs and lows over the coming months.' Pack said a year's experience in the second tier would help Pompey this term, but they could not swan about thinking they'd cracked life at Championship level.
He said: 'We need to continue to stabilise ourselves in the Championship – just because we had a good last season, it doesn’t guarantee anything. I’m quietly confident because we finished the previous campaign well and have had a really positive summer.
'But we also need to be realistic and aware that we’re still in our infancy as a club at this level of the game. I know people say the start looks easier on paper this time, but we’ve seen before that it doesn’t necessarily work that way.
'Take those back-to-back home games against Leeds and Plymouth last season – we won the first and then lost the second a few days later. It’s going to be tough, but we’ve got guys who have another year of Championship experience and that can only feed positivity into the camp.'