Pompey take on Crawley Town at Fratton Park tomorrow looking for a third straight league win to banish memories of the mediocre start to the season.
Team News
Paul Cook has no new injury worries as he looks to hand Matt Clarke his first league start of the season after he came through Tuesday's Checkatrade Trophy tie at Yeovil unscathed. Michael Smith scored a hat-trick in that game so may be considered for a starting berth whilst David Forde will remain in goal after dropping out of the Ireland squad.
Crawley manager Dermot Drummy also has no fresh injury concerns to worry about but Jordan Roberts continues to be sidelined with a foot injury.
The Match
Pompey may have won their last two league matches having not played particularly well but relying on late penalties to win games is a tactic that will only go so far and fans will want to see good performances to go with the good results as the season rolls into September.
Paul Cook has hinted that he may well have to change his 4-2-3-1 system for home games as Crawley are likely to follow in Carlisle and Colchester's footsteps by playing for a draw. It'll be interesting to see if he follows through with this thought or if he refuses to bow to his own stubborn ways.
Tuesday's defeat in the farcical couldn'tcareless trophy fixture will have also given Cook a selection headache as Smith bagged a hat-trick against a strong Yeovil team. Will that be enough to convince the manager to drop Curtis Main in his favour now he has regained his confidence? He will surely make the bench at least.
Kal Naismith is another who is pushing for a start after assisting two of Smith's goals at Huish Park, the first one in particular saw the Scot produce a beautiful cross into the box that Smith was able to finish. With neither Kyle Bennett or Milan Lalkovic setting the world alight with their performances so far this season, Naismith has a chance to truly prove Cook and his doubters wrong.
Clarke returning to the defence has to be seen as a plus point but the way the back four defend as a unit is still a concern. They shipped four at Yeovil and although three of that back four won't play tomorrow, the way this team are coached defensively will mean they are still vulnerable to crosses into the box and the long ball over the top.
That's not good news as Crawley will sit back and use their pace on the wings to get at Pompey's full backs. James Collins is the kind of forward that will convert those kind of balls into the box and he has a decent scoring record against the Blues. His four goals on New Year's Day at Swindon a few years back still brings back bad memories.
However, there is still enough quality in the Portsmouth squad to win this game and anything but victory will be a poor result. It's just a case of how Cook decides to approach this one.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Pompey
GK: David FORDE
RB: Drew TALBOT
CB: Christian BURGESS
CB: Matt CLARKE
LB: Enda STEVENS
DM: Michael DOYLE
DM: Danny ROSE
RM: Gary ROBERTS
AM: Carl BAKER
LM: Milan LALKOVIC
CF: Curtis MAIN
Crawley
GK: Mitchell BEENEY
RB: Lewis YOUNG
CB: Mark CONNOLLY
CB: Alex DAVEY
LB: Andre BLACKMAN
DM: Jimmy SMITH
DM: Josh YORWERTH
RM: Enzio BOLDEWIJN
AM: Billy CLIFFORD
LM: Jason BANTON
CF: James COLLINS
Last Time: Portsmouth 3 Crawley Town 0 (League Two - 02/01/2016)
Pompey got off the mark early on thanks to a header from Matt Clarke and Marc McNulty fired past Darryl Flahavan to give the hosts a comfortable lead going into the break. Gary Roberts converted Ben Tollitt's cross seven minutes from time to ensure the new year began with a comfortable victory.
My Prediction
An early goal to draw Crawley out of their shell would be handy but if that doesn't come then this could be another tedious match that requires some inspiration from someone like Conor Chaplin from the bench. Hopefully Roberts can continue his good form and Pompey can win their third straight match.
Portsmouth 2 Crawley Town 1