Pompey will aim to stretch their winning run to five games when they host Burton on Saturday (3pm kick-off). Ipswich, Shrewsbury, Rochdale and Wigan have all been seen off since Danny Cowley was appointed head coach last month. It leaves the Blues sitting fourth in the League One standings and with a five-point buffer to Charlton, who are located just outside the play-off positions. Their next opponents recently enjoyed their own run of six successive victories and recovered from a leaner spell to beat Swindon on Easter Monday. They were bottom of the table and apparently doomed to relegation when Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was reappointed manager at the turn of the year. But the man who previously guided the Brewers to League Two promotion before departing for QPR in 2015 has once again shown the Midas touch. Their remarkable form in 2021 has led the side out of the relegation places and to a more comfortable 18th spot. All four previous Fratton Park meetings between the teams have ended in a draw, but a Marcus Harness hat-trick helped Pompey secure a 4-2 victory at the Pirelli Stadium earlier in the season. TEAM NEWS John Marquis will be forced to sit out again, with the striker completing his three-match ban for a red card at Shrewsbury. Sean Raggett is a doubt after injuring his cheekbone at Wigan on Monday, while Alex Bass (foot), Ellis Harrison (knee) and Jordy Hiwula (ankle) remain sidelined. Burton defender Kieran Wallace is out for the remainder of the season after suffering a serious knee injury in February. Loan duo Sean Clare and Jonny Smith are also carrying knocks for the Brewers and will undergo fitness tests. HEAD TO HEAD Overall Pompey: 3 wins Burton: 1 win 4 draws At Fratton Park Pompey: 0 wins Burton: 0 wins 4 draws OFFICIALS Referee: John Busby Assistants: Mark Derrien and Justin Amey Fourth Official: Carl Brook BETTING Pompey are the 87/100 favourites with VBET to secure all three points, while the visitors can be backed at 10/3.
Andy Cannon comes in for the injured Michael Jacobs today, and unbelievably, Sean Raggett has been announced fit to play after his cheekbone injury against Wigan on Easter Monday. John Marquis serves the third of his three match ban today. Young ex-academy striker Alfie Stanley is on the bench for today's game.
Half time. 0-1 to Burton, with a 45th minute goal from Mike Fondup. Pompey replaced injured Lee Brown with Charlie Daniels in the 26th minute. Burton defender Sean Clare was booked for a nasty foul from behind on Ryan Williams. Even first half, let us see how the second half pans out.
Half Time Match Stats:- Home Team: Portsmouth ............Away Team: Burton Possession: Home 76% Away 24% Shots: Home 4 Away 5 Shots on Target: Home 1 Away 3 Corners: Home 3 Away 1 Fouls: Home 4 Away 7
Final whistle. 1-2 to Burton. We went two nil down in the 46th minute from a Joe Powell free kick from 35 yards out. We pulled a goal back in the 88th minute with a decent header from defender Charlie Daniels. We pressed for another goal, but it wasn't to be. We made four more substitutions in the second half, being a double substitution in the 53rd minute with Rasmus Nicolaisen and George Byers coming on for Sean Raggett and Andy Cannon. In the 73rd minute we replaced Tom Naylor and Callum Johnson with Harvey White and James Bolton.
Final Match Stats:- Home Team: Portsmouth ...........Away Team: Burton Possession: Home 77% Away 23% Shots: Home 13 Away 10 Shots on Target: Home 2 Away 6 Corners: Home 12 Away 1 Fouls: Home 8 Away 11
Only two shots on target. By the sounds of things, Burton played a very disciplined game to thwart Pompey from opening them up. Frustrating to say the least. At least Marquis is available again, and hopefully he can deliver the goals to enable us to participate in the play-offs again.
Big, big shift in the promotion dynamic. I just feel Hull and P'Boro have just about done it. Sunderland will feel gutted if they just miss out on the autos. I feel Blackpool are the likeliest team to get promotion vía the.play-offs. Who is this Yates they have unearthed?
Well, i suggested that our best line up was a midfield that included Cannon and Close and I got it - and Pompey lost. I also suggested that when Close had a good game Pompey usually won. Close had a good game and Pompey lost. Devon feels he does Pompey a good turn when he predicts them to lose. Perhaps I would help if I stayed silent on team selection! I do think sometimes substitutions are made because they can be. I feel the odds were that persevering Cannon and Naylor was more likely to bear fruit than bringing on Byers and Whyte. However, if last week we 'won ugly' this week our loss had some positives. We dominated possession which, although it did not bear dividends this week, it is a good basis. The failure to create good chances from good possession was a problem that supersedes the Crawley era. I expect Marquis to lead the attack on Tuesday. Although Curtis has had little success in that position in the last three games I would commend him for his effort. I doubt any other available player would have done better in that position. It is not an easy role to 'slip into.' Despite the loss I am left with positive hopes for Tuesday night. PUP
Poor performance, poor result. 4 wins and 12 points from 5 games. Lets _________________________ and move on
That would satisfy us all if that is the outcome over the next five games giving us 76. Should be enough for the play-offs.
