Portsmouth vs Cambridge United Preview

Last updated : 26 February 2016 By Jim Bonner

Pompey return to Fratton Park tomorrow looking to get their promotion campaign back on track when they take on Cambridge United.

Team News

Gary Roberts is out for an indeterminable amount of time after suffering a hamstring injury at Barnet. Gareth Evans is also struggling to make the match but Danny Hollands may return to the starting eleven. Christian Burgess is available again after his suspension.

Former Pompey midfielder James Dunne cannot play against his former club due to a gentleman's agreement that stipulates against him playing against them. Keith Keane, having returned from a loan at Stevenage, is likely to replace him.

The Match

Two poor performances on the road has made that excellent win against Bristol Rovers drift far into the past even though it was only a fortnight ago, so Pompey fans shouldn't lose too much perspective with fifteen games of the season still to go.

Having said that, the anger from the visiting fans at both Huish Park and The Hive after the final whistle was clear to see and there is a genuine worry that Paul Cook's men won't even finish in the play-off positions now given the fierce competition for those places.

Cambridge are one of those teams who may fancy themselves to finish in the top seven given their recent form under ex-Pompey midfielder Shaun Derry. They were one of the bookies' favourites for promotion at the start of the season but only since ditching Richard Money have they looked like a consistent side.

Speaking of consistency, that's one thing Pompey certainly don't have at the moment. Paul Cook still doesn't seem to know his strongest side and has been hampered by injuries but the players he has picked simply haven't been performing going forward and the play style has become far too predictable.

Derry was at the Barnet match and so has probably formulated a plan to do exactly what Martn Allen did. Cook needs to think of a way of changing things up to win the game but what does he do?

Could he start Conor Chaplin? Will he overhaul the formation completely? Will the underperforming players be dropped and fringe players given a chance?

Who knows? Maybe it's just a case of getting a lucky win via an own goal or a poor decision from the referee? Something has to change, though, as we don't want to be sitting in Fratton Park come May 7th as Northampton fans have a party as we wonder what might have been...

Predicted Starting Line-Ups

Pompey

GK: Ryan FULTON

RB: Ben DAVIES

CB: Matt CLARKE

CB: Adam WEBSTER

LB: Enda STEVENS

RM: Kyle BENNETT

CM: Michael DOYLE

CM: Danny HOLLANDS

LM: Kal NAISMITH

CF: Marc McNULTY

CF: Michael SMITH

Cambridge

GK: Will NORRIS

RB: Darnell FURLONG

CB: Josh COULSON

CB: Leon LEGGE

LB: Ryan HAYNES

RM: Ben WILLIAMSON

CM: Keith KEANE

CM: Ryan LEDSON

LM: Harrison DUNK

SS: Luke BERRY

CF: Jimmy SPENCER

Last Time: Portsmouth 2 Cambridge United 1 (League Two - 16/08/2014)

The first home game of last season opened with Ryan Taylor heading in the first goal and the first red card came soon after when Adam Webster was sent off at the end of the first half.

However, Pompey's lead was doubled after the break thanks to a comical own goal from Tom Bonner as a clearance was blasted against his back and ricocheted past the goalkeeper. Kwesi Appiah headed in a corner to set up a tense finish but Andy Awford's men held on for the win.

My Prediction

The crowd are going to be restless following the two poor results on the road and thus the longer this game goes without Pompey winning, the more frustrated they are going to get and the harder it will be for the team to play without fear.

Anything could happen, so I'll plump for another draw although hope an early goal will settle things and get Pompey back to winning ways.

Portsmouth 1 Cambridge United 1