Town boss Kieran McKenna says Portsmouth’s 5-0 New Year’s Day hammering at Bristol City could make things harder for the Blues at Fratton Park on Sunday rather than any easier.

Pompey were swept away by the Robins having beaten Charlton Athletic 2-1 at home on Monday, their fourth game without a defeat following two 1-1 draws, at home to QPR and at Derby, and a 2-1 victory over Blackburn at Fratton Park.

Portsmouth are fourth bottom, a point ahead of Norwich City and with a game in hand on the Canaries.

At home, they have picked up 18 of their 25 points having won five, drawn three and lost five.

In a table based on home results alone, Pompey would be 18th, although only five sides have scored fewer on their own turf in the Championship this season, while 10 have conceded more.

Given their position in the same area of the table, McKenna was asked whether he is anticipating a similar game to Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over Oxford at Portman Road.

“I wouldn’t have thought so as whenever I’ve watched them they’re a really high energy team, like to get in your face,” McKenna reflected, speaking after the win against the U’s.

“Fratton Park’s a high energy stadium and an aggressive place for away teams to go. Today, it certainly wasn’t that in our stadium, so we’re going to have be ready to stand up there to the home crowd, to a team who play with a lot of energy, who run a lot, whose intensity is really good and we’re going to have to recover well.

“I think it will be a physically demanding game. Today was a little bit different, it was a slower game, Oxford sat in and we weren’t quite able to get the energy into the game ourselves.

“Although they’re in similar positions in the league, I think they’re two different teams and I think it will be a different atmosphere on Sunday.”

McKenna, whose second-placed side will be looking to record three wins on the bounce for the first time this season, says it’s not always easy to face teams who have just suffered a defeat as large as Pompey’s on New Year’s Day.

“I personally never enjoy it when a team has lost heavily before you play against them, I’d rather they had won 5-0. Of course, it can go in two ways,” he reflected.

“Any time I’ve seen them this year they’ve been a really high energy team, work really hard for the manager and give teams problems, so I’m sure they’ll go and try and deliver that on Sunday.

“The fact that they’ve lost today, I’ll watch the game and take what we can from it, but it certainly never feels like it makes the job any easier, if anything it usually makes it a little bit harder in the next one.”

McKenna remains without George Hirst, who could be back from his groin injury for either the Blackpool FA Cup match or the Blackburn Championship fixture after that, and Sammie Szmodics, who is due back in full training following his illness in the next few days.

Regarding changes he might make to his team for the visit to Fratton Park, the fourth game in 10 days over the Christmas period, McKenna added: “We’ll see how the boys are. There’s been a lot of football, there were a few changes we had to make today and we’ll look at it again really, really quickly and get ready to travel down to Portsmouth on Saturday.”

The Team

Christian Walton, who has kept seven clean sheets in 15 starts, will keep his place in goal with McKenna probably sticking with the same back four, Darnell Furlong, skipper Dara O’Shea, Cedric Kipre and Leif Davis.

In midfield, Azor Matusiwa remains on nine yellow cards with a 10th leading to a two-match ban. McKenna seems likely to swap Jens Cajuste for Jack Taylor for Sunday’s game.

In the three ahead of the double pivot, Kasey McAteer could return on the right and Jack Clarke on the left with Marcelino Nunez again the number 10.

McKenna may opt to continue with Chuba Akpom as the number nine, the on-loan Ajax man having netted his second goal of the season and first at Portman Road against Oxford.

The Opposition

Portsmouth have a lengthy injury list going into Town’s visit, in addition to loanee Conor Chaplin’s unavailability against his parent club.

Defender Hayden Matthews suffered an ankle knock at Ashton Gate having come off the bench in the second half.

Wingers Josh Murphy and Callum Lang, midfielder Marlon Pack (all hamstring), and striker Colby Bishop (not specified) aren’t expected back until later in the month.

Left-back Connor Ogilvie (knee), midfielder Josh Knight (back), striker Thomas Waddingham (quad) and forward Florian Bianchini (knee) are longer term absentees, while midfielder Mark Kosznovszky (knee) could also be facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines with the club currently awaiting the results of a scan.

Some Pompey supporters showed their frustrations in the latter stages of the defeat at Ashton Gate but head coach John Mousinho had no problem with that.

“I’ve got no issue with it, the fans are fine,” he said. “It was a disappointing away day for them, I just hope there’s some understanding around where we are at the moment.

“That’s particularly with the availability, it got to the stage where the four games in 10 days had been tough for us.

“It’s not an excuse, but hopefully they can see off the back of the four unbeaten games and a couple of wins we’re trying to do things the right way.

“We’ve been here before with this group. We’ve done this a couple of times before and one of the most chastening ones was this time last year at Ashton Gate, when we lost 3-0.

“There’s a real level of understanding, but the fans at some point want to just have a decent time because it was New Year’s Day, they’ve paid their money and travelled.

“I’ve got no issue with it and by the time we return to Fratton Park, I don’t think it will be an issue.”

History

Historically, the Blues have won 22 games against Portsmouth (21 in the league), 14 have been draws (13) and Pompey have won 17 (12).

The teams met at Portman Road in September when goals from Jaden Philogene and George Hirst saw Town to a comfortable 2-1 victory.

Philogene got the Blues up and running with his fourth goal in two games in the 10th minute and Hirst all but sealed the win four minutes prior to half-time with his third of the season.

Sub Ivan Azon hit the post late on before Pack pulled one back for Pompey in injury time, but Town were not to be denied their first back-to-back league wins since the end of the 2023/24 promotion season.

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

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, Bishop put the home side back in front very much against the run of play on the hour, before Chaplin denied his local side with whom he is now on loan the win with a rebound from close range.

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 14 starts and five sub appearances without scoring but is ineligible on Sunday. The loan includes a January recall clause and Blues boss McKenna hasn’t ruled out a return to Portman Road.

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

Sunday’s referee is Leigh Doughty, his assistants Emily Carney and Alex James, and fourth official Tom Nield.

Blackpool-based Doughty, who was the fourth official for the Oxford game on Thursday, has shown 67 yellow cards and three red in 17 games so far this season.

Doughty’s last Town match was the 2-2 home draw with Derby in which he showed yellow cards to Hirst, McAteer and seven Rams, among them ex-loanee Lewis Travis, who was very fortunate to avoid being dismissed for stamping on Cajuste.

He also awarded penalties to both teams, which were converted. Derby’s just after half-time for handball by Davis was scored by Carlton Morris and Town’s in the 106th minute, was netted by Clarke after Taylor was upended by sub David Ozoh.

The Blues had been denied a stonewall spot-kick earlier in the half when ex-Town defender Matt Clarke had tripped Hirst.

Prior to that, Doughty was in charge of the 6-0 hammering of Sheffield Wednesday at Portman Road in March 2024 in which he booked Omari Hutchinson and two Owls.

Earlier that season, in November 2023, he was in the middle for the 2-2 draw at Birmingham City, yellow-carding Burgess and two home players.

He also refereed the pre-season friendly against Luton at Colchester, which ended 1-1, in which he awarded the Hatters a penalty, which was also converted by Carlton Morris after George Edmundson slid in and felled Chieo Ogbene, then with the Bedfordshire side, although the defender, now with Middlesbrough, had clearly been pulled back in the build-up.

His only other competitive Town game was the 2-2 draw at Cambridge in October 2021 in which he booked Chaplin and no one else.

Squad From

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

Photo: TWTD