this will be a test for town against free scoring Portsmouth who are averaging 2 goals a match and have scored 12 goals so far this season, they have won 5 games and drawn 1 i doubt if askey will change his formation but personally i would go with a 4/5/1 formation , if he is fully fit have Holloway up front and put okenabirhie on the left wing for his physicality as town have faded in nearly every game i would look at bringing subs on between 60 to 70th minute . i think we will do well to get a draw, if we go 4/3/3 we run the risk of been over run and getting hammered.
Shropshire star online askey is considering bring on two forwards Angol and Holloway so i presume we will go 4/4/2 or 3/5/2
if we persist with 4/3/3 against a free scoring team we could suffer a thrashing , we will also face MacGillivray with a point to prove. one of the keepers was injured in training ,town have not said who or how sever the injury is but have recalled cam gregory one bit of luck there top scorer ronan curtis is unavailable as he was called up for an international game.
based on radio commentary town sound to have played some of there best football and turned the form book upside town, pressing hard, lewis ,whalley and grant all had efforts on goal town have had a number of chances but for all that good work we have nothing to show for it and that is the problem we have to score when we are on top. Grant having another outstanding game, norburn pulling the string from midfield and whalley causing problems down the wing. not a surprise that Portsmouth come out all guns blazing as Jackett does a double substitution and changes formation, 16 minutes of sustained pressure and town seem to have weathered the storm,alex goes down towns appeals for a penalty turned down,town are causing some problems, holloway then Docherty come on, a mistake by portsmouth defence all credit to docherty who showed a lot of composure to score equally putting himself in the right place at the right time, Coleman makes three vital saves to keep town in the game, Portsmouth appeals for a penalty are turned down, with only minutes left they get a penalty 1-1 before the game i would have snatched your hand off for a draw but at the moment it feels like a defeat.(i know that is illogical)fourth consecutive penalty that combined with a team who are struggling to score and get win is a toxic combination. town failed to convert a good first half into goals and we get punished
I was not there but it certainly seems a better performance than the last away game at Luton. Let's hope we get Angol back for Saturday and a win against Southend will do the lads a world of good.
we got punished for not making more of our first half dominance , for all of towns possession we did not create enough chances and of the chances we did have we did not score. it would be interesting to hear from someone who was at the game, as lewis had two of towns best chances in the first half one went over the bar and the other one went wide. Askey must be wondering what he needs to do to get a win A quote attributed to Napoleon" I know he is a good general but is he lucky?" we know what Askey managed at his previous club was amazing so he is a good manager ,now we just need him too put it altogether and be lucky
seen the goals on sky highlights did not show the foul/penalty on alex , Lewis missed a good chance , nice goal from Docherty the penalty seemed very harsh
A frustrating result. Town had plenty of shots on or near the opposition goal and on another day we could have walked away with a great win. I know we haven't been 100% perfect in every game however I'm quite optimistic about how things are going with the squad. Fans however seem frustrated by LJL getting the starts, but Askey must have his reasons for it.
I presume Holloway is still nursing an injury as he has looked promising in his few brief cameos. Just seen the penalty given against us and it looks really harsh especially compared to ones not given for us against Doncaster and Blackpool. The ref was actually in a better position than the linesman but was swayed by the flag. The only luck we have had all season was the fluke goal against Luton. I have said this before but Saturday is a massive game for us.
we dominated the first half but for all that dominance we did not create enough chances and of the chances we did have most did not work the keeper. from the match report shots Pompey 13 on target 5 , town 12 shots on target 1. a lovely weighted pass put Lewis through credit for the direct run but then edge of the box blasts it over the bar that is just not good enough he should have at least forced a save.
Holloway has a groin injury and they potentially cant take a long time to settle and have a habit of flaring up.so until he is fully fit we will be only seeing brief if any appearances , Angol was with his expectant wife. Lewis had two chances neither forced a save ., it was a holloway header that the defender failed to deal with properly that lead to Docherty who took a punt been in the right place at the right time and showed real composure to put in the net. Lewis has lead the charge and has had the most playing time of all the forwards and has not produced what is required and when and if Holloway is fully fit should be warming the bench , whilst Angol looks lively my view is we will see more of him if he has another forward to play off.
i was willing to give Lewis a run and see how he shaped up he played in the pre season and has had a number of games, my view is he is not good enough, he needs too many touches by the time he has controlled the ball the moment has passed or he does not control it at all, he does not seem to be switched on to what is unfolding around him and does not seem too anticipate the game. both Holloway and Angol were not fit so Lewis picked himself , Holloway has a groin strain so unfortunately it is just Angol and Lewis and brief appearances as a sub from Holloway, due to a clause in his contract we were stuck with Lewis. i am mystified as to why Askey seems to like lewis
I agree with both of you - LJL has been a good player but does not look to be up to this level now at this stage of his career after some bad injuries. It would be nice to see Angol and Holloway paired from the start but essentially we are weak upfront and the decision to let Payne go on deadline day may well come back to haunt us - it is a long time to January.