Blackburn have played 3 games since our 2-1 victory over Man City. They were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday and might be feeling a bit of fatigue following their exit whilst we should be fresh after over a fortnights rest.
Rovers have injuries to key players such as Robbie Savage, Steven Reid and Andre Ooijer. They still have the likes of Ryan Nelsen, Morten Gamst Pedersen and Benni McCarthy in their squad whilst Matt Derbyshire is starting to make a name for himself too.
We already know that Lauren is out and Linvoy is also a major doubt, meaning Pamarot will continue at centre back. Pedro Mendes should be fit but there's a chance we could only play one up front. The formation has worked for us in recent away games and could be effective however I personally hope we play 4-4-2 and take advantage of Blackburn's fatigue.
We simply have to win this one with the fixtures we have coming up. I'm quietly optimistic we can do it and I can't understand why so many Pompey fans have already written this off as a defeat. I know how bad we were the last time we travelled to the North-West and if we play like that again then the players deserve to be mobbed as there's an incentive to take a UEFA Cup spot back. A draw isn't really good enough either.
Come on Pompey! There's an opportunity to make history here by giving us our first ever season in Europe after such a promising 2006. Don't blow it now!
Premiership Past: Blackburn Rovers vs Pompey
03/04: Blackburn Rovers 1 Pompey 2
Pompey's first ever Premiership win came courtesy of a Teddy Sheringham free kick and a Yakubu strike sandwiched in between an unfortunate Matt Taylor own goal as we followed up our win over Scummers with a decent away performance.
04/05: Blackburn Rovers 1 Pompey 0
Unlucky Pompey were beaten thanks to the "New Manager" curse and the "Returning Player" curse as Matt Jansen; returning from a long term injury gave Mark Hughes a win on his debut game as Blackburn Manager. Oh, and we were denied a blatant penalty right at the end when Fuller was taken out by Friedel too.
05/05: Blackburn Rovers 2 Pompey 1
Matt Taylor gave Pompey the lead with a superb free kick early on only for Pedersen to replicate his effort a few minutes later to equalise. The annoying turd also known as Paul Dickov scored the winner after another Westerveld blunder as the Blues started 2006 in the worst possible way.
Pundit Watch
Lawro: Home Win (1-0)
Sky Sports: Home Win (2-1)
Soccernet: Home Win