Pompey will be looking to keep their automatic promotion hopes alive with a win at Field Mill tomorrow.
Team News
Gary Roberts is banned following his sending off last Saturday but otherwise there are no selection worries for Paul Cook.
Stags striker Adi Yussuf is suspended for urinating behind a stand last week so giant forward Emmanuel Dieseruvwe could be handed his debut after signing on loan from Chesterfield.
The Match
The Newport defeat was a shock to the system for all Pompey fans but there are reasons to be hopeful that Paul Cook's men can get their promotion bid back on track against Mansfield tomorrow.
Firstly, Pompey have proved they can bounce back from a terrible performance. They took 10 points from 12 following the awful defeat at Barnet last month and could well do the same again after Cook read the riot act to his players following such an unacceptable performance on Saturday.
Secondly, Pompey may not feel the pressure of playing in front of such a huge crowd as their recent results on the road have shown. There seemed to be a fear amongst the players at Fratton Park last weekend but they could play with more freedom at Field Mill.
Thirdly, Mansfield are the perfect opposition to get the promotion bid back on track. They have lost four of their last five games without scoring and their only victory in that run was a 3-2 win over bottom club Dagenham. The Stags have also failed to beat any team in the top half of League Two.
There'll be no need to worry about the former player curse striking this time, either, as Craig Westcarr is currently on loan at Southport. Roberts will be a miss but it may well be that Marc McNulty plays a little deeper behind Michael Smith instead or maybe Conor Chaplin will be given a start.
Whoever is picked, there simplt can't be any attitude that they can just turn up and win despite Mansfield's current form. They have to know that failure to win here will see hopes of automatic promotion finally killed off once-and-for-all and they won't want the pressure of the play-offs.
The other promotion contenders will all be expected to win tomorrow so Pompey must also do their part and keep the pressure on.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Mansfield
GK: Scott SHEARER
RB: Daniel ALFEI
CB: Krystian PEARCE
CB: Lee COLLINS
LB: Ryan TAFAZOLI
RM: Colin DANIEL
CM: Chris CLEMENTS
CM: Mitchell ROSE
LM: Adam CHAPMAN
CF: Matt GREEN
CF: Emmanuel DIESERUVWE
Pompey
GK: Ryan FULTON
RB: Ben DAVIES
CB: Matt CLARKE
CB: Adam WEBSTER
LB: Enda STEVENS
DM: Michael DOYLE
DM: Danny HOLLANDS
RM: Gareth EVANS
AM: Marc McNULTY
LM: Kyle BENNETT
CF: Michael SMITH
Last Time: Mansfield Town 1 Portsmouth 2 (League Two - 25/04/2015)
The final away game of the season saw Pompey pick up just their third win on the road as Ritchie Sutton was shown a straight red card for taking out Jed Wallace in the box in the first minute. Matt Tubbs scored the resulting penalty and Wallace scored his final goal in a Pompey shirt with a long range strike.
Youngster Jack Thomas scored a "worldie" to pull one back for the Stags but it wasn't enough as Gary Waddock's men held out for the win.
My Prediction
I have a feeling Clarke may be selected ahead of Burgess to deal with Dieseruvwe who stands at 6ft 5in and there may be a couple of other changes too. This is rare coming from me but I believe lessons will have been learned from the Newport defeat and Pompey will bounce back and claim an important three points in Nottinghamshire.
Mansfield Town 0 Portsmouth 1