Portsmouth

Andrew Moon
BBC Radio Solent Portsmouth commentator

Image source, Rex Features

It was a Portsmouth victory which was not a surprise or an epic battle, just one that went to the form book.

An intense start that Stoke City could not live with, followed by a second half of excellent control that allowed Pompey to coast to a 3-1 victory.

Fans are now arriving at Fratton Park expecting performances like this rather than being pleasantly surprised by them.

The Championship table looks better than it has done at any point all season. Can Pompey finally find a way to get results away from home, and can they put in three performances in a week?

A trip to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday may help answer those questions...

Image source, Rex Features

Stoke City boss Mark Robins was very critical of both his own team and Portsmouth after their 3-1 defeat at Fratton Park on Wednesday night.

The 55-year-old said the Potters were "bullied" by a Pompey side who rolled out "all the dark arts" on their way to victory.

"I'm really disappointed, they set the tone right from the start and we didn't live with that," Robins said.

"We allowed them to bully us all night. I also didn't think for one second the referee was going to give a penalty [for the first goal] and then he did. It is what it is.

"Let's have it right, they've thrown themselves to the floor, they've fouled us, kicked us, and we've had nothing.

"It's all the dark arts, they've got experienced players in the other side of the game and it's old school football."

Robins' comments throw up a number of questions and we want to know what you think of his claims:

Were Stoke bullied by Portsmouth?

Did the decisions go against the Potters?

Do you agree with Robins that Pompey deployed the 'dark arts'?

Let us know your thoughts here.

Image source, Rex Features

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho spoke to BBC Sport following their 3-1 win over Stoke.

"It feels great, we knew how important this was pre game and just everything about what was at stake," he said.

"It meant that we could get ourselves up the league and above Stoke so we knew it was really key.

"We were ruthless and clinical and came out on top in my opinion in pretty much every area.

"I think it was a penalty (in the first half), when you push with two hands on the back you give an opportunity for the referee to give a foul"

Portsmouth continued their impressive home form by beating Middlesbrough 2-1 on Saturday to extend their unbeaten run at Fratton Park to six games (W5 D1).

Pompey have gained 19 points from 12 home games (W5 D4 L3) this season, compared to seven points from 14 away matches.

Stoke City are unbeaten in their past four Championship matches (W1 D3), following a 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion at the weekend, but are still searching for a first league win under new boss Mark Robins (P2 D2).

• Portsmouth have lost each of their past three league games against Stoke, including a 6-1 defeat in the reverse fixture in October.

• Stoke have won two of their past 12 away league games against Portsmouth (W2 D4 L6), but could win on successive trips there in the EFL for the first time, following a 2-1 win in the Premier League in February 2010.

• Portsmouth have lost five of their seven midweek league games this season (W1 D1 L5), with Pompey failing to score in four of those matches.

• Stoke have won three of their past four Championship games against newly promoted sides (W3 L1).

• Robins is yet to win as a visiting manager against Portsmouth in the EFL (D1 L2), drawing 3-3 on his last trip with Coventry City in League One in August 2019.

Dan George & Andrew Moon
BBC Sport, South

Image source, Getty Images

Portsmouth are closing in on a deal for Sydney FC defender Hayden Matthews, reports BBC Radio Solent.

The 20-year-old 6ft 4in centre-back has made 18 appearances this campaign for Sydney who are fifth in the Australian A League.

BBC Radio Solent understands that Pompey are edging closer to a deal worth over £1m for the defender.

Matthews has been a long term target at Fratton Park with the Blues unable to secure a deal to sign him in the summer.

This window Portsmouth have already added both Isaac Hayden on loan from Newcastle and defender Rob Atkinson from Bristol City on a loan deal.

The Blues are currently third from bottom in the Championship table with 26 points, level with Hull City who occupy the space above them.

Matthews will look to compete for a starting spot with the current crop of central defenders at Fratton Park, one of those being Conor Shaughnessy who is not too far away from returning after injury according to boss John Mousinho.

The centre-back suffered a calf injury in November and Mousinho is hopeful that he will be involved when his side host Burnley on 1 February.

Tom Chappell
Fan writer from Fournilwrittenalloverit

Image source, Rex Features

Saturday was probably Pompey's best win of the season so far.

We've had a 3-0, a 4-1, even a 4-0, but Saturday tops the bill.

And my reasoning being the calibre of Pompey's opposition on the day in Middlesbrough; the fashion of the win in terms of overturning a deficit; and the style in which 'Super' Matt Ritchie took his goals.

It almost felt like a demonstration to ourselves that we do have it in us to beat some of the best that this division has to offer.

Michael Carrick's Boro have been off the boil and there is a bit of a transfer window cloud looming over them, but they have an abundance of top-end Championship operators.

They also have one of the country's young stars in Ben Doak and a serial goalscorer in Emmanuel Latte Lath - who could be on the move in the January transfer window.

There were probably eyebrows raised all around the ground at the news of the inclusion of full-back Jordan Williams in head coach John Mousinho's starting line-up.

Fast forward to full-time and that looked like a shrewd and calculated call, Williams probably had his best game in a Pompey shirt to date.

The aforementioned Ritchie was the headline act for Pompey this weekend, but who I deemed to be the hero of the hour is the man who replaced Williams in the 81st minute.

Zak Swanson came on and inside 60 seconds crafted the goal that simply doesn't happen without him.

It's his exemplary tenacity to win the ball, play in Callum Lang, and allow Ritchie to do the rest which forges the winner. What a fantastic moment for him.

As I write, it is two years to the day since Pompey took a risk and hired the then Oxford United first-team coach to take over at the club.

That will be looked at as arguably one of the most impeccable judgement calls of Richard Hughes' career, but reflective upon the football club as a whole.

An immeasurably good decision, who needs Jose Mourinho!

And to the friends and family who so sadly lost a loved one at Fratton Park on Saturday, my thoughts are very much with them.

Portsmouth have agreed a deal worth about £1.27m for Sydney FC and Australia defender Hayden Matthews, 20. (Football Insider, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Monday's gossip here.

Andrew Moon
BBC Radio Solent Portsmouth commentator

Image source, Rex Features

Somehow Portsmouth continued to defy the odds at Fratton Park on another memorable occasion, this time against Middlesbrough.

A Pompey squad put together at a fraction of the cost of the Boro squad went toe-to-toe with a promotion-chaser and came out on top.

It was a fascinating spectacle with Pompey's press always likely to force mistakes, and Boro cutting through Pompey with ease on the counter-attack.

Matt Ritchie has shown glimpses of his talents so far, and on Saturday he delivered two Premier League-worthy goals to seal the win.

Image source, Rex Features

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho hopes Matt Ritchie has "six or seven" more seasons in him after scoring his first goals at Fratton Park, 16 years after starting out with Portsmouth as a teenager.

Ritchie's double secured victory over Middlesbrough and left his manager hoping he prolongs his career now back at the club he signed for as a trainee back in 2008.

"I think a big part of Matt Ritchie coming back here was the fact he had the roots here as an academy player and there was always a tinge of regret he didn't have a long career at Portsmouth," said Mousinho.

"I'm sure he wouldn't swap his brilliant career for anything but there was one thing that was missing, and that was coming back for some unfinished business.

"He got the goal away at Swansea but it is difficult to come here. You saw what it meant to him, he is absolutely buzzing. Since he's come back into the side he's given us a huge amount of energy and quality on the ball in the final third.

"It was a brilliant run and finish for the first goal and then more energy for the second, maybe more energy than you would expect for someone at the back-end of his career – maybe he has six or seven years left in the tank!"

Tom Chappell
Fan writer from Fournilwrittenalloverit

Image source, Getty Images

Usually I have little trouble moving on from a defeat the morning after the night before - but, for one reason or another, I woke up after the Blackburn game as infuriated as I was at times during the match.

Perhaps it's the minimal sleep and long journey to Lancashire and back playing a part, but reading the referee's explanation of his decision making means I remain seething as I write.

We were perfectly placed to witness the blatant push on Bishop, as described by BBC commentator Andy Moon, and, equally, in full view of the clattering of Callum Lang from goalkeeper Aynsley Pears - which Farai Hallam recounted as a 'coming together' despite his own assistant formulating the opinion shared by all of us, that it was indeed a penalty.

I counter all of that by saying that we must first look at ourselves.

Away from home, we don't create enough, we don't defend well enough - and Pompey actually consistently end up writing their own script.

Decisions going against us are neither where Pompey's problems start or end but for a team battling at the bottom end, it certainly compounds the struggle.

To finish - a word on the window.

There's plenty of discourse regarding the strengthening of teams around us but, while the concern is palpable that Pompey will be left behind, not every deal works out exactly as planned.

We have lived and breathed that this season and last.

What is for sure - perhaps exasperatingly so - is I don't think it will take a lot for Pompey to steer clear of relegation worries in terms of incomings in these next two weeks.

No-one is asking for irrational spending, all that is expected is that the squad is bolstered to tackle 21 games head on - otherwise a euphoric second tier return after a 12-year absence could be over.

I think we'll probably know by the Burnley game - four of the next five games at Fratton Park now simply define Pompey's season.

Find out more from Tom and Fournilwrittenalloverit by clicking here, external

Portsmouth host sixth placed Middlesbrough on Saturday as the look to escape the relegation zone (15:00 GMT).

Pompey have lost their past two league games to put themselves just two points above basement dwellers Plymouth Argyle, however could lift themselves out of the bottom three with a home win.

On the other hand, Boro are on a six-match unbeaten streak in the league but did suffer an FA Cup third round loss to Blackburn Rovers last weekend.

• Portsmouth have won just one of their last ten league games against Middlesbrough (D6 L3), a 2-1 victory at Fratton Park in September 2008 in the Premier League.

• Five of the last six league games between Middlesbrough and Portsmouth have finished in draws, with Boro winning the other 3-1 in March 2012 courtesy of goals from Barry Robson, Matthew Bates and Marvin Emnes.

• Pompey are unbeaten in their last five home league games (W4 D1), scoring three or more goals in their four wins during that spell; they could score 4+ goals in three straight matches at Fratton Park for the first time since October 1979.

• Middlesbrough have drawn four of their last five league games (W1), as many stalemates as across their previous 24 Championship matches (W12 L8).

• No teenager has been directly involved in more Championship goals so far this season than Middlesbrough's Ben Doak (2 goals, 6 assists); in fact, the Liverpool loanee also has the most assists across that same cohort in England's top four tiers in 2024-25 (6).

Andrew Moon
BBC Radio Solent Portsmouth commentator

Image source, Rex Features

We have seen some desperate Pompey performances on the road this season but Wednesday night was not one of them.

Head coach John Mousinho felt his side had two blatant penalties turned down in the second half and even those of a Blackburn persuasion probably would not have argued had they been awarded.

Unfortunately, on the road, Pompey aren't good enough to overcome significant moments of officiating going against them.

Also, again, we saw a side with greater depth able to make changes that influenced the game. John Mousinho is short of Championship quality on the bench.

Four of the next five matches are at home which is a relief after six consecutive away defeats in all competitions.