Kenny Jackett feels Pompey's EFL Trophy win at home to Colchester has set them up nicely for a more important game - the League One opener against Shrewsbury on Saturday.

He implied that many of those who faced the Essex side in a 2-0 Fratton win were in line to keep their places against the Shrews - though whether the Blues' two new full-backs Cameron Pring and Callum Johnson play in the league game remains to be seen.

He told the club website: 'It was a solid performance and better defensively than at Stevenage — which we did need — so hopefully it sets us up nicely for Saturday. I do think that those players who feature against Shrewsbury will be better for having appeared in this game.

'It will help them to get into a rhythm and build their confidence — it was a really good workout for all of them. We’re pleased with the clean sheet and Marcus scored two excellent goals, while we could have had more.

'Colchester are a good footballing side and they move the ball well, but we restricted them to minimal chances. There were also a couple of positive debuts for Callum Johnson and Cameron Pring. It’s good for them to get a blue shirt on pretty quickly.'

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