Match Preview – Portsmouth (H)

Tomorrow evening sees the Alex’s host Portsmouth after the game was postponed within 90 minutes of kick-off a couple of weeks ago.

This Season:

They sit in 10th place following wins against Fleetwood Town, us, Shrewsbury Town twice, Sunderland, Bolton Wanderers, Wycombe Wanderers, AFC Wimbledon, Lincoln City, Gillingham, Morecambe, Burton Albion, Doncaster Rovers, Oxford United and Accrington Stanley, they have drawn with Doncaster, Plymouth Argyle, Charlton Athletic, Accrington, Cheltenham Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Cambridge United, AFC Wimbledon and Fleetwood while they have lost against Wigan Athletic, MK Dons twice, Cambridge, Burton, Rotherham United, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Charlton and Oxford.

They lost to Millwall in the Carabao Cup 1st Round while they lost to Harrogate Town in the FA Cup 2nd Round after beating Harrow Borough in Round 1.

They finished second of their EFL Trophy group following a win against Crystal Palace Under-21s after defeats against AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United before knocking out Exeter City in Round 2 then a defeat against Cambridge United.

Transfers:

Since the last meeting, they have signed goalkeeper Oliver Webber, defender Denver Hume, midfielder Jay Mingi and forward Aiden O’Brien as well as defender Hayden Carter and forward Tyler Walker on loan in January.

Leaving the club were defender Lee Brown and forwards Alfie Stanley, Ellis Harrison and John Marquis as well as a number of players on loan deals.

Head-to-Head:

Alex Wins: 7
Pompey Wins: 8
Draws: 6

Biggest Alex Win: 4-2 at Fratton Park in December 2001
Biggest Pompey Win: 3-0 at Fratton Park in September 1978

Last Meeting:

Portsmouth 2-0 Crewe Alexandra, 14th August 2021

John Marquis opened the scoring for the hosts in the 48th minute before Marcus Harness’ 64th-minute goal sealed the win.

Alex: Jaaskelainen; Ramsay, Daniels, Offord, Adebisi; Lundstram, MacDonald (Finney 65), Murphy; Dale (Long 41), Mandron (Porter 88), Ainley

Portsmouth: Bazunu; Freeman, Raggett, Robertson, Brown; Tunnicliffe, Williams (Morrell 74); Harness, Hackett-Fairchild (Jacobs 79), Curtis; Marquis (Hirst 82)

Played for Both:

The following players have been contracted to both teams:

Goalkeepers: n/a

Defenders: Arthur Marshall, Ashley Westwood

Midfielders: Gareth Evans, Danny Hollands, Bill Kennedy, Gary Roberts, Kenny Swain

Forwards: Fred Chandler, Harry Clarke, Tom Curley, Fred Haycock, Eric Jones, John Jones, David Pullar, Luke Rodgers, Luke Varney, Fred Worrall

Officials:

The officials for this game have been announced here with Andrew Kitchen the referee, Peter Gooch and Mark Jones are his assistants with Darren Handley the fourth official. This is the first Alex game that will be refereed by Kitchen.