He endured a frustrating injury-disrupted campaign with Ipswich last season.
But Ellis Harrison is now counting down the days to Pompey’s League One opener at Shrewsbury next Saturday.
The summer signing has been a lively presence up front for his new club throughout the pre-season schedule.
And he played 86 minutes of the penultimate friendly at Crawley, which saw Gareth Evans and Tom Naylor find the target in a 2-1 victory.
Now Harrison is looking forward to making a positive impression when the serious action gets started.
The striker said: “We’re getting close to the beginning of the season now, with only a week to go before the opening game.
"It’s good to get these minutes in during pre-season and I’m absolutely raring to go for next week at Shrewsbury."
“I do feel like I’m getting up to speed after spending seven months out injured during the previous season.
“It’s good to get these minutes in during pre-season and I’m absolutely raring to go for next week at Shrewsbury.
“These friendly matches are all about getting those fitness levels up ahead of what’s going to be a long campaign.
“But I definitely feel as though there’s still some more I can do in terms of getting up those levels of sharpness.
“It’s been coming on ever since we started back in training, though, and the whole team is really starting to bond.”
Pompey’s final friendly sees them head to Kingfield Stadium to face National League outfit Woking on Tuesday (7.45pm kick-off).