Portsmouth

Andrew Moon
BBC Radio Solent Portsmouth commentator

Image source, Getty Images

Wow. Portsmouth are almost over the line and they did it in some style.

They've been better defensively on the road this season but going forwards they were outstanding, taking full advantage of some generous Norwich defending.

A perfect hat-trick for Colby Bishop takes him to 10 league goals for the season, some achievement given that he didn't play until November due to heart surgery.

John Mousinho didn't find it comfortable, describing it as a "stressful watch" which summed up his side at the back.

Realistically, 49 points might be enough to stay up but another win on Monday should seal the deal.

With Norwich already looking ahead to next season, according to midfielder Anis Ben Slimane, Portsmouth might fancy their chances of taking advantage of side with little to play for over the next four games as Pompey try to seal their place in the Championship for next term.

Four points clear of trouble, maybe one more win will do it - that's certainly the view of BBC Radio Solent's Andrew Moon on the latest edition of the Who Needs Mourinho? podcast.

Here are the stats ahead of their Good Friday game (15:00 BST).

• Norwich City have won only three of their past 12 Football League games against Portsmouth (D5 L4), though are unbeaten in their last two meetings (W1 D1).

• After beating Norwich 2-0 in December 2010, Portsmouth could win successive away league games against the Canaries for the first time since September 1968.

• Norwich are unbeaten in their past four league games on Good Friday (W2 D2), winning each of their last two against Blackburn in 2023 (2-0) and Plymouth in 2024 (2-1).

• Portsmouth are unbeaten in their past nine league games on Good Friday (W5 D4), though did lose their last such game in the second tier 3-0 at Ipswich in 2003.

• Norwich's Josh Sargent (10 goals) and Portsmouth's Josh Murphy (10 – three goals, seven assists), are two of the four players to have 10+ goal involvements in the Championship in 2025.

In the latest Who Needs Mourinho? Chris Wise and Andy Moon look at the 2-2 draw with Derby draw and try to predict who might be getting relegated from the Championship.

Pompey are not out of the scrap either - John Mousinho's side are four points clear of the bottom three with four games remaining.

Up next are Norwich City away on Good Friday, and Chris and Andy look ahead to that one and, of course, there's your questions in Moon's Musings.

Andrew Moon
BBC Radio Solent Portsmouth commentator

Image source, Rex Features

When Portsmouth stunned Leeds in early March to move 10 points clear of the bottom three, many fans thought Pompey were safe. One win in six since then has dragged the Blues back into the relegation battle.

The performances haven't been bad but they have developed a nasty habit of conceding late goals, especially away from home where they've lost 12 of the past 13 matches.

If Pompey do stay up, it will be almost entirely down to their results at Fratton Park.

Injuries have been a problem but Rob Atkinson returned last weekend, Conor Shaughnessy is close to a return and top scorer Callum Lang hasn't given up on playing again this season. It's hard to imagine Portsmouth would be in any danger if those three had stayed fit.

One win from four might be enough to stay up from here, two would definitely do it and the fixture list is kinder than some other relegation rivals.

Back in November when Pompey were rooted to the bottom of the table, they would have bitten your arm off to be in this position.

A few struggles and some unfortunate results have led to a couple of jitters but the Blues should have enough to see the job through.

The sole objective all season has been staying up - 21st or higher marks a good first season back in the second tier for 12 years.

Image source, Rex Features

Rob Atkinson says he will be "forever grateful" for the opportunity Portsmouth have given him this season and is desperate to help keep the club in the Championship.

The 26-year-old, who has been on loan at Pompey from Bristol City since January, was heavily involved in the 2-2 draw with Derby on Saturday, scoring twice and also turning into his own net.

His 91st-minute equaliser could yet prove to be a vital point for John Mousinho's side, who are four points clear of the relegation zone with four games to play.

"It's not done, I won't be happy until we're definitely safe and playing Championship football again next season," Atkinson told BBC Radio Solent.

"I feel the club owes me nothing and I owe a tremendous amount to the club because they took a big, big gamble on me and I'll forever be grateful for that."

Atkinson missed the previous seven league games with injury and had been struggling with illness before the Derby game but came straight in to start at Fratton Park.

"I think that's just the way I am as a person but also as a professional footballer," he said.

"I'm not really your stereotypical academy brought up football player. I've done it the hard way and I see playing football as a bit of a blessing really.

"I've been in relegation battles before. I know how to play in those sort of situations."

If Portsmouth do stay up, Atkinson believes they have the ability to finish much higher up the table next season.

"I think this football club is going to be way better than that next season," he added.

"They've got the nucleus, the core of players that are dangerous and will cause any defence - as we have this season - trouble.

"With a home record and a home ground like this... just need to fix that away form and you could be well up there."

Andrew Moon
BBC Radio Solent's Portsmouth commentator

Image source, Rex Features

It makes a nice change for a last-minute goal to go in Pompey's favour!

This game was everything you would have expected - [it was] tense, physical and direct. Once Colby Bishop missed an early penalty there was very little between the sides.

All the focus will be on Rob Atkinson's contributions at both ends of the pitch.

Portsmouth look a better defensive unit with him in, had he stayed fit it's hard to imagine they would still be in the relegation picture.

John Mousinho was rightly frustrated with the way Pompey conceded the goals, there have been too many sloppy ones in recent weeks.

Pompey are crawling towards safety but four points from their final four games may well be enough.

Image source, Rex Features

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho spoke to BBC Radio Solent after Rob Atkinson scored both of Pompey's goals - as well as an own goal - in their 2-2 draw with Derby County.

"Before the game we wanted to win it, it was a big game for us but the most important thing was to not lose the game," Mousinho said.

"So when you go through what we went though today, in terms of missing a penalty, then shooting ourselves in the foot conceding the goals at really poor times, to come back into it was really pleasing.

"Rob [Atkinson] is a player who has two years' worth of bad injuries at Bristol City, and he came in in January and we managed him back into the fold and he unfortunately got that calf injury against QPR [in February].

"But there aren't many players with five games left on their loan risking what Rob risked today. He will go back to Bristol City after his loan, but he came in and he played like he had a four-year contract at Portsmouth, and I'm really pleased we have characters in the dressing room like that.

"He didn't have to do it, he was pencilled in for 60 minutes and we got beyond that, and as you saw, he left everything out there."

Tom Chappell
Fan writer from Fournilwrittenalloverit

Image source, Getty Images

As I write more than 24 hours on, the sickener on Wednesday night remains on my mind.

Disappointment this season has been a regularity for Portsmouth fans and, although never easy to get over, is routinely something we have dealt with - but the manner in which devastation was handed to Pompey in this game will live long in the memory.

Having been there and watched us lose every one of the 15 games in which we have succumbed to defeat on the road this season, that is the worst I have felt leaving an away end.

West Bromwich Albion, Derby and Stoke all embarrassing in equal measure and unacceptably poor. Wednesday night was different.

You couldn't have asked for any more in terms of defensive performances from the likes of Regan Poole and Connor Ogilvie right up to 93-and-a-half minutes in.

A characterisation of the cruel mistress that we call the Championship embodied in a heartbeat - make one mistake with 20 seconds on the clock and face the devastating consequences.

I make it seven points that Pompey have let slip in time post the regulation 90 minutes this season.

That leaves little consideration other than to think that it's a mentality issue. Too many times a lead or a point has been let slip with moments to spare.

A green shoot from the congested Championship run-in is that attention turns very quickly to Saturday.

Simply the biggest game for Pompey in many, many years.

Win it and the season is defined by a critical victory and only a handful of points will then be needed from the remaining subsequent games.

Lose (or anything but win) and we will be left in nothing other than serious trouble.

It's worth pointing out there have been moments this season in which the pressure has been very much on for John Mousinho's side to get a result when really needing it.

My mind takes me back to the lead up to both the Cardiff and Stoke games this season where a seismic win was an absolute necessity. We delivered on both those nights.

What is also noteworthy is that Pompey are the best positioned team at this juncture of any of the other sides desperate to avoid the drop.

You would not want to swap either our run of games nor our league position with any other team within a handful of points below us.

Tomorrow, it is completely in our hands at Fratton Park. On many an occasion this team has delivered on home soil with the backing of some of the most vociferous support in the land.

It's time to do it again.

Image source, PA Media

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho says his side have played "better under pressure" this season.

He was speaking ahead of a crucial clash with Derby County in the battle to avoid relegation from the Championship.

Pompey were 10 points clear of the drop zone after a 1-0 win over Leeds United a month ago, but a run of four defeats in their past five games has seen the gap cut to just three points.

Meanwhile, the Rams are 21st and would move above Portsmouth on goal difference if they win at Fratton Park on Saturday (15:00 BST).

"I feel like we've played better when we're under a bit of pressure," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.

"When we've had a bit of a better buffer or more of a gap to the bottom three, that's been the time when I think we've not been able to actually produce the result and the performances we should have.

"I think we're a better side under pressure, so I'm welcoming it for this weekend."

Despite suffering defeat in stoppage time at Coventry on Wednesday night, Mousinho says every player should be "relishing" the challenge against Derby.

"We get to play a home game at Fratton Park at the back end of the season with our league destiny in our own hands," he added.

"I think that's an amazing thing to be part of, so I think the lads will be positive and excited about playing the game."

Portsmouth and Derby County meet for a vital encounter in the Championship relegation battle at Fratton Park on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Pompey have lost four of their past five games (W1) and are three points above the drop zone.

The Rams have lost just one of their previous six matches (W4 D1) to move out of the bottom three on goal difference and would climb above Portsmouth with victory.

• Portsmouth are without a win in their previous nine league meetings with Derby County (D5 L4) since a 3-1 victory in the Premier League in January 2008.

• Derby have only won one of their past seven league visits to Portsmouth (D4 L2), although are unbeaten in their last four (W1 D3).

• Portsmouth have won 10 of their past 14 home league games (D2 L2), conceding just nine goals in total during that time.

• Derby have won just two of their 20 away league games this season (D5 L13), conceding 1.8 goals on average per match during that time.

• Derby County's John Eustace has faced Portsmouth once before in the Championship as a manager, with that coming in January with Blackburn, a 3-0 win.

Portsmouth fell to a gut-wrenching defeat in the 94th minute at Coventry on Wednesday - their 15th away loss this season.

Pompey have won just twice in 21 games away from home, picking up only 10 points from a possible 63.

It was the seventh time this season John Mousinho's side have dropped points in the final five minutes of a game, meaning they have given up a total of nine points late in matches so far in 2024-25.

Chris Wise and Andy Moon discuss what went wrong at the CBS Arena and why Portsmouth keep conceding late goals on BBC Radio Solent's Who Needs Mourinho? podcast.

They also look ahead to a vital match against relegation rivals Derby County at Fratton Park on Saturday (15:00 BST), with Pompey just three points above the drop zone with five games to play.

Listen to the latest episode of the Who Needs Mourinho? podcast on BBC Sounds.

Andrew Moon
BBC Radio Solent Portsmouth commentator

Image source, Rex Features

It has not usually been pretty following Portsmouth on the road this season but the loss to Coventry will be one of the toughest ones for fans to take.

For 93 minutes Pompey defended solidly. There were moments where bodies had to be put on the line but Nicolas Schmid didn't have many saves to make. Regan Poole and Connor Ogilvie were immense at the heart of the defence.

Once again though the Blues learnt the hard way that you cannot switch off even in the final minute. Jamie Paterson's finish was excellent but the goal was completely avoidable.

After 12 defeats in 13 away games, thank goodness three of the final five matches are at Fratton Park.

Two wins will likely be enough to stay up. However things are much tighter and much nervier than anyone would have predicted just a few weeks ago.

Coventry City welcome Portsmouth for an important clash at both ends of the Championship table on Wednesday night (20:00 BST).

The Sky Blues are seventh and outside the play-off spots by just one point but since a run of nine wins in 10 games, Frank Lampard's side have now lost three of their past four.

Portsmouth are four points clear of the relegation zone in 17th and have lost three of their previous four games - Pompey have also won just twice away from home in the league this season (D4 L14).

• Coventry City have won just one of their past seven league meetings with Portsmouth (D2 L4), although that was this exact fixture the last time they hosted Pompey, a 1-0 win in February 2020.

• After their 4-1 win in December, Portsmouth could complete only their second ever league double over Coventry City, previously achieving this in 2018-19.

• Coventry City have not won any of their past eight league games played on a Wednesday (D3 L5) since a 1-0 victory at home to Blackburn in October 2023.

• Portsmouth have lost all five of their midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games away from home this season by an aggregate score of 2-14.

• Coventry have lost three of their four league meetings with newly promoted sides this season (W1), last losing four times to promoted sides in a league campaign in 2015-16, and last doing so in the Championship in 2011-12.

Tom Chappell
Fan writer from Fournilwrittenalloverit

Image source, Rex Features

There is seemingly a palpable shift in opinion within pockets of the Pompey fanbase - from what was relative confidence of divisional status in the Championship next season - to a tangible fragility and nervousness in view of just how tight these last few weeks are going to feel during the campaign's climax.

That shift is in large part down to Pompey's inability to learn anything about themselves from previous misadventures away from home - twinned with an almost expected late resurgence from a number of sides below us.

While games on the road are less attributable to conceding four or five now, and more often than not separated by the single goal - there is a horrible repeat pattern of no sooner looking like rescuing a point, to undoing it all and coming away with absolutely nothing.

Both the Preston and Millwall 2-1 defeats have similarities in scoreline and endeavour only visible after conceding.

Colby Bishop had probably the biggest chance of the first half, Matt Ritchie in turn struck the upright moments before Pompey's equaliser which felt like it would never find the back of the net. Outside of the aforementioned, there was little troubling Lukas Jensen all afternoon.

If Pompey are to stay in the Championship, it will almost certainly be through heavy reliance on fortunes at Fratton Park.

Which, albeit had been a source for an awful lot of our joy this season - heaps huge pressure on the outcomes of our remaining home games.

Maximum home points and minimum away points would just about be enough from here.

If anything is to be taken from the upcoming midweek trip to Coventry - it will also have to come by doing something different away from home.

Pompey points away from home have come at a premium at the best of times, so a handful of those to aid the fight at the sharp end of a relegation battle would be extremely welcome.

Andrew Moon
BBC Radio Solent's Portsmouth commentator

Image source, Rex Features

Portsmouth have now lost 11 of their past 12 away matches. However, while earlier in the season they were being well beaten it's now three away losses in row in by a single goal in games they probably didn't deserve to lose.

The first half was a physical battle and as bad a spectacle as you could witness. Millwall strangely sat back after scoring and Pompey's goal came after their best spell of the game

But as at Preston, after doing the hard bit, Pompey couldn't hold on for a point, with Millwall sending in one more ball into the box than Portsmouth could cope with.

Pompey remain in a good position to avoid relegation but the pressure on home matches will be ginormous if they keep losing away.