Marcus Harness has revealed how he likes to let off steam away from football – by indulging in his passion for Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
The martial art has its roots in Japanese jujutsu, which translates as ‘gentle art’, but the Town midfielder admitted: "I do get beat up quite a bit, but’s all fun and games and I enjoy it.
"I wouldn’t say I’m that good but I’m alright. I started it back at home in Coventry before I left Burton Albion to join Portsmouth in 2019.
"I don’t know, it was just something that I got hooked on quite randomly. It gives me a nice break from football and it’s somewhere to burn off steam if I’m feeling a bit frustrated or wound up by something. Football can be high pressure but the jiu-jitsu is a way to release some steam. It helps in that way a lot.
"I can’t do it much because of the way that we train and football obviously has to come first. I can’t just go along to fight my mates every day and then come into training knackered! It’s something I do enjoy but I don’t get to do it that often any more, to be honest.”
One of Town’s major strengths this season and throughout Kieran McKenna’s near two-year tenure has been the way the manager has assembled a squad of 22 players, essentially two for every position on the field of play, and has been able to keep them all happy.
Harness was asked how the manager had achieved it and replied: "I’m not sure really but everyone has bought into what we’re pushing towards and the kind of team we want to be.
"We all have our part to play and we know there will be a time for everyone to step up when the manager needs us. It’s about being able to keep the good performances going and not rest on what we’ve done previously to ensure we have another successful season.
"Last season we saw a lot more rotation because of just how it was. The team is quite settled at the minute and I think that’s a good thing, which the performances and results are showing. For the lads who are not in there it’s just a case of keeping fit and strong, so that we’re ready when the manager is looking to make a change to the side.
"Then, when you get the chance to play, you must make sure you use it to stake your claim to be a more regular starter. I guess that’s all you can do because the manager will pick the team he is going to pick.
"The training is very intense but we’re a very professional group and we’re getting pushed hard by the manager and his staff. We also push ourselves hard and every day we are working hard on new things that are introduced, as well as the things we are already good at and which we’re also looking to improve.
"The way we train means we are all ready to go. We’re in good shape, so always ready. The manager changes the front four a lot because of the way that we work.
"It’s a case of giving everything you’ve got until you can’t give any more and then three or four players will come on to change it.
"We’re always ready to play, whether it’s from the start or off the bench later in the game. Yes, it’s different being a sub to starting games, but just a different challenge really.”
Town take on Plymouth at Portman Road tomorrow after losing out to them in last season’s League One title race. Both teams were promoted, of course, with the Devonians currently 18th in the table and without a win on their travels, drawing three of their six games and losing the others.
In their clashes last season Town suffered their first defeat of the campaign, going down 2-1 at Home Park, while Argyle managed to cancel out Wes Burns’s opener when Bali Mumba netted in stoppage time in the return fixture.
Harness said: "We’re familiar with Plymouth from last season and we know how dangerous an opponent they can be. We’re excited at the prospect of, hopefully, being able to put in a complete performance and get a win against them.
"In both the fixtures against them last season we did what we thought was probably enough to win the games, but they snatched it from us at our place to take a point.
"It would be nice to put in that complete performance and get another three points tomorrow. It would be really good for us.”
Looking ahead briefly to next Wednesday’s Carabao Cup round-of-16 visit of Premier League side Fulham to Portman Road, the midfielder added: "Me and a few of the other lads who have been on the bench lately can get another chance to play against another very good opponent. It was a great night when we beat Wolves and we’d love another one.
"It’s always good, as a team, to gauge where we’re at and in the previous round Wolves were probably the best opponents we’ve played against in my time here, although I’m not forgetting Burnley in the FA Cup last season.
"Fulham represents another huge test for us. We have a big squad here, full of fit players who are dying to play games, so it’s kind of the case that it gives players an opportunity to stake their claim, while keeping others fresh and ready if they’re called upon for the Championship fixtures, which are obviously the most important to us.”
The postponement of last Friday’s game at Rotherham meant Town had to wait even longer to return to action following the international break and Harness admitted: "It felt like it had been a long time before the start of the game at Bristol City the other night.
"It took us a few minutes to get going, although it wasn’t really too long. It’s just that we had been in such good flow in the games before Bristol but because of the international break and the game at Rotherham being postponed it had become a longer gap. When we really got going on Wednesday we were creating loads of chances.”