Pompey travel to Hartlepool tomorrow evening looking to avoid the ultimate embarrassment of two club records and going bottom of League One.
Team News
Frankie Sutherland has returned to QPR after his loan spell was cancelled early but otherwise Guy Whittingham and Andy Awford have no new injury worries.
The Match
The 1975/1976 season gave Portsmouth Football Club two unwanted club records. The team went without a win for 19 games and were also beaten 9 times in a row. The latter record was also equalled in the 1958/1959 and 1959/1960 seasons.
But tomorrow, at Victoria Park, there is a strong feeling of dread. A defeat to the worst team in the league will mean a new record that stands alone as the worst in this football club's long and proud history.
Not only that, but to rub salt into the proverbial wounds another defeat would mean that Pompey would replace Hartlepool at the bottom of League One.
The sad thing is that most supporters are expecting just that. The team has no cohesion because too many new faces are introduced at one time, the defence are prone to lapses in concentration and the attack is toothless.
I could not understand why James Keene, Liam Walker and Jed Wallace were dropped on Saturday. They are our most threatening players and without them Pompey never looked like winning.
Hopefully they will be restored to the starting eleven to give Pompey the best chance of avoiding humiliation tomorrow night but you'd imagine that Hartlepool will also be highly motivated knowing that they can finally leap off the bottom of the league with a win.
Let's just hope our motivation is greater.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Hartlepool
GK: Scott FLINDERS
RB: Jordan RICHARDS
CB: Evan HORWOOD
CB: Sam COLLINS
LB: Jack BALDWIN
RM: Jonathan FRANKS
CM: Antony SWEENEY
CM: Ritchie HUMPHREYS
LM: Simon WALTON
CF: Steve HOWARD
CF: Charlie WYKE
Pompey
GK: Simon EASTWOOD
RB: Yassin MOUTAOUAKIL
CB: Ricardo ROCHA
CB: Gabor GYEPES
LB: Dan BUTLER
RM: Therry RACON
CM: Johnny ERTL
CM: Jed WALLACE
LM: Liam WALKER
CF: James KEENE
CF: Patrick AGYEMANG
Last Time: Hartlepool United 0 Portsmouth 3 (Division Four - 18/08/1979)
John McLoughlin, Colin Garwood and Steve Bryant all hit the net for Frank Burrows' men in this game as Pompey looked to get out of the bottom tier of English football at the second attempt.
My Prediction
Hartlepool have continued their improvement with a draw at Swindon on Saturday and have already beaten us at Fratton Park this season. Bring on the club records...
Hartlepool United 2 Portsmouth 1