Tomorrow is the start of the Hawks’ 2022/23 pre-season calendar and it couldn’t be bigger. The annual Portsmouth friendly is coming once again to the Draper Tools Community Stadium.

The Hawks will be kicking off their pre-season in style following a number of changes to the squad over the summer. A handful of names have left the squad and a number of recruits have been added to Paul Doswell’s side. He will be hoping his new additions will be the difference to improve on last season’s 8th place finish, narrowly missing out on the playoffs.

Danny Cowley has brought in Marlon Pack, to the fans’ delight, over the summer as Pompey will be wanting to start their pre-season as they mean to go on. Their full schedule also kicks off today, with a trip to Gosport tomorrow before embarking on a tour to Spain. They return with a handful of fixtures left to play back in England against Bristol City, Gillingham, Leyton Orient, Bognor Regis and Coventry City before they start their season on July 30th.

Last time the two sides met, it was a 5-2 victory for the League One side. The Hawks went into the break 2-1 up thanks to goals from Tommy Wright and James Roberts. Although it was the Blues that took their chances in the second half and thanks to a hat-trick from ‘Trialist H’ and a goal from Hackett meant Danny Cowley’s men took all three points.

It will be interesting to see how both sides get on after a summer break but it is certain to be a cracking fixture in front of a bumper crowd at the Draper Tools Community Stadium.