League Cup clash will mark start of 2012-13 season

If the Blues make it through to the start of the new campaign, a first-round cup clash on August 14 will mark the opening of Michael Appleton’s first full season at Fratton.

The new season is going to provide a lot of alien concepts for supporters – including a frenetic fixture list.

The first eight weeks of the season will deliver a whopping 17 games for Pompey, if there is cup progress.

So expect midweek games aplenty as Appleton’s men undertake a gruelling schedule.

The Blues’ league campaign will start 12 days later than it did this season, with their first league game scheduled for August 18.

Then their first-ever game in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy is set to arrive on September 4.

That’s unless the Blues are one of the 16 sides given a first-round bye.

Sky’s Soccer AM hosted the draw for the competition last season, with teams pulled out of the hat in a Play Your Cards Right style.

Pompey will be in with all the other League One and League Two sides, with the southern final staged over two rounds in February.

The final then takes place at Wembley on April 7.

International breaks will become a thing of the past, too, with no weekend rest for Pompey – unless they get knocked out of the FA Cup at the first round stage.

That’s where they will enter the competition next season.

Their bid to deliver a repeat of the glory win four years ago will start on November 3.