Yellow card for Callum Lang for whinging to the referee. Strange that, Barry Bannan of the Owls has been doing that continuously, but has not been booked!! 73 minutes.
Pompey double subs: Marlon Pack is being introduced, as is Middlesbrough loanee Sam Silvera. Off come Josh Murphy and Andre Dozzell. 75 minutes.
Owls booking: Yan Valery is booked for Sheffield Wednesday for pulling back Connor Ogilvie. 87 minutes.
Pompey's Terry Devlin cuts inside finds space on the edge of the box but hits a left-footed shot over the bar. 90 minutes.
Final Match Stats:- Overall Possession Portsmouth 40.2%Sheffield Wednesday 59.8% Shots Portsmouth 9Sheffield Wednesday 9 Shots on target Portsmouth 2Sheffield Wednesday 3 Shots off target Portsmouth 3Sheffield Wednesday 4 Blocked shots Portsmouth 4Sheffield Wednesday 2 Total touches in the box Portsmouth 26Sheffield Wednesday 25 Goalkeeper saves Portsmouth 1Sheffield Wednesday 2 Aerial duels won Portsmouth 30Sheffield Wednesday 41 Fouls Portsmouth 10Sheffield Wednesday 14 Corners Portsmouth 7Sheffield Wednesday 7
Well that caps a disappointing week. we have lost two in a row against opponents we have to get something off of. We now know we are well and truly in a relegation battle. That said we played better tonight than on Tuesday night. I think tonight's starting line up are worthy of another go although if Lane is fit next Saturday he could come in for Saydee. Next week we play Hull and Plymouth - we must, and can, get points from both teams. PUP
What has gone wrong since May? Derby and Oxford (who I expected to be where WE are) are both sitting in mid table while we, a side who were head and shoulders above practically everyone in League One last season, are being made to look rough and ragged
Rough and ragged without Sean Raggett, Joe Rafferty and Conor Shaughnessy in defence, dev !! We have failed to replace them adequately, and Regan Poole isn't the same player since his nasty injury last season. Our defence simply isn't good enough, and too many injuries suffered, especially in training.
Interesting comments Woops. we certainly miss the height of the Ragget/Shaughnessy combination. I did feel Towler performed better than expected at the start of the season and was unlucky to be dropped. While I feel Poole has had some good games and may yet find his feet this season perhaps Towler could come back in in his place in the immediate future. To me the main area we are failing to compete in is the mid field. Any two from pack Potts and Dozzel seems to fall short of what is required. Further forward we lack a No 10 and have done since Robertson's injury last season. Kamara has impressed when he has come on and would appear to be up to the pace of championship football but also appears to be a risk taker keen to dribble out of defence. This may be unfair since he has always come on when we are chasing the game. So I would suggest we play 4-3-3 with 3 in the middle. We strengthen that area of the field and Kamala becomes less of a risk with to others as back-up. Either Kamala or Potts could take a more forward role. With only three up front I think we need Yengi's size in the middle, Lang on one side and our best in form winger on the other side. Murphy is currently struggling to string good games together. Harvey Blair has impressed with his pace when he has come on as a substitute. He was disappointing in the one game he started not seeming to inject the required energy but he may yet suceed at this level. Much is being written about our overall lack of Championship experience and on that basis we may be under utilizing Matt Richie. He is difficult to fit into the eleven but may also be a mid field alternative if we play three in the middle. Further, Shaughnessy joined us as a defensive mid fielder who could also play in the back line. When he is fit he could possibly challenge for both back four and mid field positions. All this flys in the face of my earlier post saying that tonight's effort warrents giving our starting eleven another go- which I do not retreat from. However, the hard fact appears to be that not all our squad are championship standard. We have to find out which players are and find ways of utilising them.
