Pompey take on League Two champions Northampton Town tomorrow looking for a result to secure their play-off second leg at Fratton Park.
Team News
Paul Jones has made a faster recovery than expected and should be in contention to start against the Cobblers. Michael Smith has returned to parent club Swindon whilst Connor Wilkinson has returned to training and could feature. Kyle Bennett and Marc McNulty are close to fitness and should be ready for the play-offs.
Ricky Holmes and John Marquis will start against their former club but key players Joel Byrom and Marc Richards have been ruled out with a back and Achilles injury respectively.
The Match
Undoubtedly there will be some envious glances cast towards the jubilous Northampton fans in the Milton End during the game tomorrow with many Pompey fans thinking "that should've been us."
However, if Portsmouth are to be promoted then it's going to be done the hard way and the result in this match will decide when Fratton Park hosts its first play-off fixture since 1993.
A win for Paul Cook's men will secure supposed home advantage for the second leg of the play-offs next Sunday but they simply have to equal Plymouth's result otherwise. Argyle host Hartlepool but have numerous key players "injured" and yet they should surprisingly all be fit for Thursday's first leg, wherever it'll be played.
As for tomorrow's match, the opposition are worthy champions indeed having gone 23 games without defeat since Pompey won 2-1 at Sixfields back in December and that is despite off-field turmoil almost as bad as Pompey's in recent years.
Holmes may be their outstanding player but in John-Joe O'Toole they have a midfielder who scores plenty of goals and can dictate play in the centre of the park, Adam Smith who is probably the best goalkeeper in the division and John Marquis who seems to have found his shooting boots after his misfiring loan spell at Pompey two seasons ago.
As for the team Cook selects tomorrow, it's expected he will stick with Brian Murphy regardless of Paul Jones's availability on the day. Jones has made a high-profile gaffe recently whilst Murphy has been excellent in his last two matches and didn't concede in either of them.
With Smith returning to Swindon it seems like Conor Chaplin may also finally get the start he deserves and he would be a good bet to open the scoring given his two goals in his last three games as well as netting the winner at Northampton too.
Despite the Cobblers' brilliance this season there's no reason why Pompey can't win this game. There'll be no pressure on them despite the allure of a debateable home advantage for the second leg of the play-offs.
Paul Cook has said it doesn't matter to him which way round the games are played and because his team have been better away from home this season, perhaps it would be better for Pompey to play the crucial second leg at Home Park rather than Fratton where the pressure would be greater and the opposition could have a psychological advantage knowing that they stole a win on Pompey's home turf last month.
Whatever happens, we should enjoy this game for what it is: a good game of football between two of the best teams in the division. Let's hope Pompey will get to play Northampton again next season.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Pompey
GK: Brian MURPHY
RB: Ben DAVIES
CB: Christian BURGESS
CB: Adam BARTON
LB: Enda STEVENS
DM: Michael DOYLE
DM: Danny HOLLANDS
RM: Gareth EVANS
AM: Gary ROBERTS
LM: Kal NAISMITH
CF: Conor CHAPLIN
Northampton
GK: Adam SMITH
RB: Brendan MOLONEY
CB: Ryan CRESSWELL
CB: Zander DIAMOND
LB: David BUCHANAN
DM: Danny ROSE
DM: John-Joe O'TOOLE
RM: Alfie POTTER
AM: Lawson D'ATH
LM: Ricky HOLMES
CF: John MARQUIS
Last Time: Portsmouth 1 Northampton Town 2 (Johnstone's Paint Trophy - 07/10/2014)
David Moyo opened the scoring with a curling effort past Paul Jones but a quick equaliser came from Ryan Taylor who rifled the ball home. A poor second half performance saw Kaid Mohammed tap in a winner to defeat a much-changed Pompey side.
My Prediction
With the pressure off and the sun shining, I can actually see Pompey doing the double over the champions and heading into the play-offs on the back of four straight league wins for the first time this season!
Portsmouth 2 Northampton Town 1