The dress rehearsals are over and it is almost time to enjoy opening night.
There is just a week to go until Pompey bring the curtain up on the new League One campaign by hosting Bristol Rovers.
John Mousinho is pleased with all the hard work he has seen from his new-look squad over the summer.
And he knows that everyone is eager to see a return to competitive action after a narrow defeat to Bristol City in the final friendly.
The Blues boss said: “The whole period has worked out great and we’ve ticked a lot of boxes in terms of what we’ve wanted to achieve.
“That’s from the camp away in Spain at the beginning of the month, the training sessions since and also the games we’ve played.
“So everyone’s feeling positive as we head into the League One season, although only time will tell how we fare.
“The lads have looked really fit and now we’re just looking to get a little bit sharper heading into next Saturday.
"The whole period has worked out great and we’ve ticked a lot of boxes in terms of what we’ve wanted to achieve."
“There’s a lot of excitement building around the club – I think there has been since the back-end of last season.
“We’ve made quite a few signings and the Fratton faithful will be looking forward to seeing them in league action, when it really counts.”
Mark Sykes scored the only goal early in the second half as the Robins from the Championship came out on top.
Mousinho said: “It was two sides that wanted to play football and Bristol City are an excellent side – I’m sure they’ll do well in the Championship this season.
“To stand toe-to-toe with them for 90 minutes was pleasing and we stood up to the physical challenge well.
“Perhaps we tried to play a bit too much in the first half and weren’t practical enough, which we addressed pretty well.
“We then looked a lot sharper going forward after the break and created more, which was very pleasing.
“This was another test for us against opposition from a higher division and provided a good signpost for where we are.
“We’ve conceded from a corner and that’s something we’ll have a look at. We’ve got a lot of time to work on set-pieces going into the Bristol Rovers game.”
🎙️ John Mousinho's post-match verdict#Pompey pic.twitter.com/nWIuDSQLE4
— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey) July 29, 2023