Lee Brown says Pompey's players have stayed in good shape during their time off - and are already starting to think about the opening League One fixture at Shrewsbury on August 3.

The left-back says the whole squad have hit the ground running since returning to training last Thursday. He told the club website: 'It’s always nice to come back and meet up with people you haven’t seen for a few weeks. Everyone’s in high spirits and obviously I was right at the front of the pack when it came to all the running!

'All players these days will keep themselves in shape over the summer and we were all in good form on the first day back. You can’t just have six weeks off doing nothing these days and everyone knows that, so you have to look after yourself.

'We all have a decent base fitness — you can see that when they measure the body fat and we do the fitness work.

'The first week is always a bit boring and you don’t have any games to break things up, so it’ll be nice to get back into a routine again. We’re going away to Ireland soon and it’s useful to have that time when everyone’s together, especially for the new lads.

'You can do all the running you want, but it’s that match fitness you’re working towards and that will build as the weeks progress. It’s quite relaxed at the moment, but everything we’re doing is gearing up to that first league game at Shrewsbury. That’s crunch time.'

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