Danny Cowley lifts lid on Portsmouth’s tough Christmas plans ahead of Boxing Day trip to Exeter

But Danny Cowley has revealed this Christmas weekend will be treated like normal as they eye a return to winning ways.

This season, Pompey will be making the 260-mile round trip to Exeter for their first league meeting there since 2017.

And it’ll be the first time the Blues will play on the festive date, after the previous two December 26 contests were called off due to Covid-19.

Cowley’s men are desperate for three points, after their 2-0 defeat to MK Dons on Saturday saw them drop to 10th in the table.

Drifting five points off the play-offs, the head coach insisted the upcoming weekend will be treated like every other as they attempt to leave no stone unturned in their preparations.

He told The News: ‘We’ll train on Christmas Day and we’re also going to travel on Christmas Day because we play on Boxing Day.

‘For me it’s just a Sunday and Monday, I don’t want to be disrespectful about this time of year, but we’re in the football industry.

‘For me it’s just a normal weekend.’

Following their promotion from League Two last term, Exeter have had an impressive start to life in the third tier.

The Grecians sit 13th in League One and just two points behind Pompey going into the contest.

However, they’ve picked up two wins since Gary Caldwell took charge at St James Park, and are without a victory in their last five league games.

Nonetheless, Cowley is expecting a tough contest when the his men make the Boxing Day trip to Devon.

He added: ‘They’ve done fantastically well, they’re a club on the up.

‘They’ve had a brilliant start to the season and out of all the teams who were promoted, they've transitioned the most successfully. They find themselves in and around the play-off positions.

‘They changed their manager just recently and there were a couple of tweaks to their style of play and to their system.

‘We’re going to find a really high energy team, who will press you very aggressively.

‘We know it’s a really tough place to go and play and the supporters are very vociferous.

‘There’s a lot to like and it’ll be a tough game, but for us after the disappointment of Saturday our only frustration is that Christmas is in the way – and we can’t play Saturday and have to play Monday.’