Town manager Kieran McKenna is looking to build on the 5-0 thrashing of Sheffield United a fortnight ago when the Blues host Portsmouth on Saturday, aiming to return Portman Road to the fortress it became during the back-to-back promotion seasons.

The comprehensive victory over the Blades was the first of the season anywhere and the first in the league on home turf since the 2-0 defeat of Chelsea at the end of December last year, their only home win in the Premier League last term.

During the 2023/24 Championship promotion campaign, the Blues lost only once at home, the 4-3 loss to Leeds in August, winning 16 and drawing six, and in the preceding season in League One, their record at Portman Road was identical.

McKenna says returning to that sort of form will be crucial as Town look to return to the top flight this season.

“It will be vital,” he said. “We want to back up the Sheffield United game and bring some of the same things we did in that performance.

“But also, it is important we keep the clarity of what that looks like because the ‘fortress’ that we had last time in the Championship, we weren’t winning 5-0 every week.

“You go through the results, and we have done that over the last few weeks to remind the boys how competitive this division is, and it’s 1-0, 2-1, 3-2, 4-3.

“We are really excited to get back to Portman Road tomorrow and we are going to give the game and the performance everything we have got.

“But we also know we are facing a really tough opponent and it is not going to be an easy game. They are going to do everything they can to stop us and try and impose their threats on the game.

“If we want to build a good home record this year, it is going to come from one battle at a time, one game at a time - giving everything we’ve got to try and overcome a really difficult opponent every week. And then having the durability to try and do that every single week.

“We’ve taken one step towards that in the last home game, but it is just one step. There is a new a battle and we are expecting it to be very different. We will see if we can try and build up those home results which will be a big boost.”

Portsmouth, 16th last season, have made an inconsistent start to this campaign and sit in 13th place in the Championship table having won two, drawn two and lost two of their six matches. They were beaten 2-1 by League One Reading in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

Last Saturday they were defeated 2-0 by Sheffield Wednesday at Fratton Park having drawn 0-0 away against their big rivals Southampton the previous weekend.

Five of their eight points have come away from home having won 1-0 on the opening day at Oxford and drawn 1-1 at West Brom in addition to the goalless derby with the Saints.

That’s an improvement on last season’s form on the road when only relegated Plymouth, 12, claimed fewer away points than Pompey, who picked up 14 and only three wins on their travels all campaign.

Goals have been hard to come by this season, home and away, with bottom side Sheffield United the only side to have scored fewer than Portsmouth’s four with Andre Dozzell’s winner against the Lilywhites at the end of August their most recent strike. If they fail to score on Saturday they will have gone the whole of September without scoring.

“I think they have started good, certainly up to last weekend they would have been really, really positive,” McKenna said of the Hampshire side’s campaign up to now.

“They’ve had some good early results, haven’t conceded many goals, have been really solid.

“They had a really good performance at Southampton away which I’m sure they would have been really pleased with. In a big derby for them, they were the better team on the day. 

“They would have been disappointed with last week, of course, but they were missing a couple of really important players. That can happen in the Championship, so I’m sure they were disappointed to lose that one at home.

“But in general, they have been good. They are a really competitive, really strong, well organised and well coached team with good individual quality. We are expecting a tough game and we are looking forward to that.”

McKenna has a lot of time for his opposite number John Mousinho, who has been in charge since January 2023, seeing Pompey to the League One title the following season, his first full campaign as a manager.

“He’s done very well, he’s done an excellent job and full credit to him,” McKenna said. “They are a club who we had a good rivalry with for a while in League One.

“They are a club who have a good fanbase, a good atmosphere and a good history. They are always an enjoyable club to compete against.

“I have followed their journey since we were in the same division and John has done a brilliant job taking them up and stabilising them last year - and has done it in a good manner. Full credit to him, he’s done excellent.”

One man Mousinho won’t be able to field this weekend is Conor Chaplin, who is on loan from Town and ineligible against his parent club.

McKenna, who keeps in close contact with the forward, who returned to his boyhood club on deadline day, says he hasn’t talked to him ahead of the match with Chaplin not expected to be at the match.

“I’ve not spoken to him this week,” the Blues boss continued. “I think that’s fair as you don’t want to ask him any questions that could put him in a difficult spot. Someone has told me he’s not coming but I’m sure he will be watching from afar.

“We’ve been watching his games and been in contact but not this week. He has got his duties at Portsmouth and our duties are here, so we will catch up after the game.”

The Blues are going into their first three-game week of the season with a visit to Bristol City following on Tuesday, before Norwich City are in Suffolk for the East Anglian derby a week on Sunday.

McKenna says his team selections will have an eye on matches coming with greater frequency than has been the case so far this season.

“The first priority is to try and get a performance and a result on Saturday,” he said. “But once we get into these three-game blocks and the midweek games, especially when a game comes on a Tuesday, there are different factors that come in.

“Some players may find it difficult to play back-to-back, some will be able to play Saturday-Tuesday, some it might be too early in the season for that, they might not have built up that robustness yet or there might be different medical issues.

“You take some of those factors into consideration, and then some players might be more suitable to play one game or you might look at the opposition and see which players might be more suitable for that.

“That’s a normal process and there is going to be a lot of that over the next few months, especially with the rearranged game [at Blackburn].

“We have 41 league games left and we go into our first three-game week now, but when the game’s rearranged we’re looking at, probably from when we come back after the international break, we will maybe have only one or two full training weeks right up until Portsmouth away on 4th January.

“There is going to be a lot of games and the whole squad is going to be needed with players having to step up at different times. That’s what’s enjoyable about the division and enjoyable with all the different challenges. We enjoyed it previously and we will look to tackle it head-on again.

“All eyes on Portsmouth now, but, of course, we know there are other games coming up with different tasks, and we are going to need everyone.”

The Team

McKenna will be forced into one change by Jacob Greaves’s suspension for his red card in the abandoned game at Blackburn but could make others given the busy schedule.

Alex Palmer will be in goal with Darnell Furlong probably at right-back and Leif Davis on the left, while Cedric Kipre will come in for Greaves at the centre of the defence alongside skipper Dara O’Shea.

Jens Cajuste almost certainly won’t play all three games, so Marcelino Nunez is likely to be handed his full debut at some point, however, that seems more likely at Ashton Gate on Tuesday. Azor Matusiwa looks set to continue alongside the Swedish international.

Ahead of them, Kasey McAteer again seems likely to start on the right and Jaden Philogene, scorer of a hat-trick at Portman Road a fortnight ago, will be on the left with McKenna having to choose between Chuba Akpom and Sammie Szmodics for the number 10 role.

George Hirst will probably start as the out-and-out striker once again, however, Ivan Azon seems likely to make his full debut at some point over the next eight days.

The Opposition

In addition to the unavailable Chaplin, Pompey will be without central defender Conor Shaughnessy, who suffered a hamstring injury against the Owls.

Winger and one-time Norwich youngster Josh Murphy missed that game with an ankle problem and is a doubt for Saturday’s match.

Another wideman, Spurs loanee Yang Min-hyeok, rolled his ankle ahead of last week’s game but could return to the squad facing the Blues.

Two more wingers Harvey Blair and Franco Umeh (both hamstring), keeper Nicolas Schmid (broken hand) and striker Thomas Waddingham (quad) are all sidelined.

Manager Mousinho admits the performance against Wednesday last week was well below par.

“We had a frank discussion about the last match because we were poor across the board and got it out of our system,” he told his club’s official website.

“Every game is an opportunity and a chance to pick up three points – whether home or away – and it’s the same this weekend.

“Regardless of their start to the season, Ipswich are a very good side and were recently playing in the Premier League.

“They’re an impressive team with a talented young coach. I’m sure he’ll be looking to push them on to the next level.

“I think they’re dangerous everywhere and there are plenty of superlatives. They’ve added very well and have strength all over the pitch.

“Ipswich’s results so far aren’t what they would have liked, but that result against Sheffield United tells you everything you need to know.”

History

Historically, the Blues have won 21 games against Portsmouth (20 in the league), 14 have been draws (13) and Pompey have won 17 (12).

The teams last met in League One at Fratton Park in December 2022 when Chaplin netted three minutes from time for the Blues as they came from behind twice to draw 2-2.

Marlon Pack’s fourth-minute free-kick gave Pompey the lead, but Cameron Burgess’s second goal of the season levelled seven minutes later.

In the second half, Colby Bishop put the home side back in front very much against the run of play on the hour, before Chaplin denied his local side the win with a rebound from close range.

At the end of the previous month, Town’s hopes of a Wembley final in the Papa Johns Trophy ended at the round-of-32 stage after a 2-0 defeat to Portsmouth at Portman Road.

Future Blues loanee Dane Scarlett opened the scoring for Pompey in the 43rd minute, profiting from some sloppy play after Town had dominated the first half, and the Blues huffed and puffed after the break without finding a leveller, before Zak Swanson added the second deep in injury time.

At Portman Road in October 2021 goals from Marcus Harness, Freddie Ladapo and Wes Burns saw Town to a dramatic 3-2 victory over previously unbeaten Portsmouth, who had twice levelled from the penalty spot.

Harness netted against his old club on 25 but Bishop converted the first of two spot-kicks for Pompey seven minutes later.

In the second half the game was settled after three goals in seven minutes, sub Ladapo put the Blues back in front in the 74th minute with his first touch but Bishop again equalised from the spot on 79, however, straight from the kick-off Town won it through Burns.

Familiar Faces

Town striker Hirst spent the 2021/22 season on loan at Fratton Park, scoring 15 goals in 32 starts and 14 games from the bench.

Blues forward Chaplin joined Pompey as a six-year-old and progressed through their youth ranks into the first team before leaving to join Coventry in January 2019. He returned to Fratton Park on loan on deadline day and since then has made two starts but is ineligible on Saturday.

Andre Dozzell, the son of Blues legend Jason, came through the academy ranks at Portman Road and went on to make 78 starts and 15 sub appearances, scoring three goals, before departing for QPR in Paul Cook’s 2021 Demolition Man summer. He joined Pompey in the summer of 2024.

Officials

Saturday’s referee is Andrew Kitchen, his assistants Shaun Hudson and David Harrison, and the fourth official Alex Chilowicz.

The Durham-based official has shown 13 yellow cards and no red in five games so far this season.

Kitchen has already refereed the Blues this season, the opening game at Birmingham City, in which he awarded Town a last-gasp penalty for handball, which was converted by Hirst to claim the point. He booked Matusiwa, Chaplin, Jack Taylor and two home players.

His previous Blues match was the final away game of 2024/25, the 2-0 defeat at Leicester City, Kitchen’s second Premier League match, in which he booked only one player, McAteer, then with the Foxes.

Prior to that, he was in charge of the 3-3 draw at Hull City in April last year in which he booked Axel Tuanzebe, Massimo Luongo, Burns and one Tigers player.

Before that, he was in the middle for the 2-1 home victory over Coventry at Portman Road in December 2023 when he again yellow-carded Luongo, as well as Brandon Williams and one Sky Blue.

In the summer of that year, he officiated in the 2-1 pre-season victory at Preston North End and before that the 3-2 win at Port Vale in October 2022 in which he kept his cards in his pocket throughout.

Kitchen’s only Town fixture aside from those was the 2-0 win at Fleetwood in March 2022 when he booked Sam Morsy, Luke Woolfenden and one home player.

Squad From

Palmer, Walton, Button, Furlong, Johnson, Young, H Clarke, Davis, O’Shea (c), Kipre, Matusiwa, Cajuste, Taylor, Nunez, Humphreys, J Clarke, Walle Egeli, Szmodics, Philogene, McAteer, Akpom, Hirst, Azon.

Photo: TWTD

jas0999 added 19:45 - Sep 26 We HAVE to back that up with a win. Anything less would be really disappointing and we can ill afford to lose any more ground, even if it is early in the season. Wins at Bristol and against Norwich, also much needed.
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shakytown added 20:03 - Sep 26 We need to start winning games in a row and right now or the season will be gone. Time to start putting teams away and getting out act together.
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