Portsmouth vs MK Dons Preview

Last updated : 13 October 2017 By Jim Bonner

Pompey take on everyone's favourite franchise club at Fratton Park tomorrow looking to establish themselves as a top half side in League One.

Team News

The injury crisis seems to be easing as Christian Burgess and Milan Lalkovic are available for selection again after recovering from calf and achilles injuries respectively. The game has come too soon for Conor Chaplin and Brett Pitman, however.

Milton Keynes are without midfielder Aaron Tshibola who is serving a suspension and Peter Pawlett who is injured.

The Match

For those wondering why Fratton Faithful hasn't been updated recently, I have been travelling Europe and haven't long returned, meaning this will be the first live Pompey game I've watched since the awful home defeat to Rotherham at the start of September.

Results have certainly been mixed since then, haven't they? Despite being at the Camp Nou and Oktoberfest during the trip, I couldn't help but feel slight envy of those who watched the goals being banged in against Fleetwood and Bristol Rovers.

However, touring Heineken Brewery and the Roman Forum were far better alternatives than witnessing ugly defeats at the hands of Scunthorpe and Oldham. (Seriously, you try explaining to American travellers just how bad those towns are, as well as the teams that play in them.)

The televised victory over struggling Gillingham had to be watched through gritted teeth at times but given the circumstances, any kind of win on front of the Sky cameras would have been viewed as positive even if the entertainment value was practically zero.

Still, moving onto tomorrow's game and who knows what will be in store in a match between two of the most inconsistent sides in the country? MK were touted as one of the pre-season favourites for promotion this season and yet were routed 4-1 by Bradford in their previous match and lie below Portsmouth in the table on goal difference.

Mathematically, either side could find themselves in a play-off position by tomorrow evening with a victory but a place in the top half is far more likely. Both sides have defensive weaknesses so with Pitman out but Burgess back, Hawkins should revert to his usual role up top and should be able to cause some problems.

The rest of the team should be similar to the side that ground out the win at Gillingham. Jamal Lowe tends to play well at Fratton and so could be a good bet for first scorer tomorrow.

In honesty, any win will do whilst the squad is still missing some key players. Let's just hope there is some entertainment on offer, too.

Predicted Starting Line-Ups

Pompey

GK: Luke McGEE

RB: Nathan THOMPSON

CB: Christian BURGESS

CB: Matt CLARKE

LB: Dion DONAHUE

DM: Ben CLOSE

DM: Stuart O'KEEFE

RM: Jamal LOWE

AM: Kyle BENNETT

LM: Matty KENNEDY

CF: Ollie HAWKINS

MK Dons

GK: Lee NICHOLLS

RB: George WILLIAMS

CB: Ethan EBANKS-LANDELL

CB: Scott WOOTTON

LB: Dean LEWINGTON

CM: Edward UPSON

CM: Chuks ANEKE

CM: Alex GILBEY

RWF: Kieran AGARD

LWF: Gboli ARIYIBI

CF: Osman SOW

Last Time: Portsmouth 1 Milton Keynes Dons 1 (League One - 23/02/2013)

David Connolly headed in Jed Wallace's free kick to give Pompey the lead but five minutes later Shaun Williams volleyed in an equaliser to ensure that Portsmouth's winless run extended to a depressing 23 games.

My Prediction

Who the hell knows? I shall sit on the fence on this one having not watched Pompey live for such a long time.

Portsmouth 1 Milton Keynes Dons 1