Pompey travel to Doncaster tomorrow looking to maintain their 100% record at the Keepmoat Stadium.
Team News
Guy Whittingham could stick with the same side that were unfortunate to lose at Leyton Orient on Tuesday night although John Akinde should take his place on the bench after shaking off a bug.
Brian Flynn might be without full back Paul Quinn after he picked up an injury on Saturday at Bournemouth and so Andy Griffin may be given a chance to play against his former club along with David Cotterill who played for the club under Steve Cotterill.
The Match
This could well be the wrong time to play Doncaster as they are now top of League One, but Pompey have previously got a result at Tranmere when they were top earlier in the season so all is not lost.
Although Pompey were defeated on Tuesday, the performance was good and so confidence should still be high. It will be interesting to see how our stronger players in Agyemang, Ertl and Gyepes compete with Doncaster's physical presence and whether the likes of Walker and Wallace can cope.
If our technical players have a good day and can move the ball around the pitch quick enough then there is a chance for a result and maybe even the possibility of keeping our 100% winning record.
However, we shouldn't kid ourselves into thinking that recent performances give us the right to go to the home of the current best team in the division. This will be tough and any kind of result will be positive.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Doncaster
GK: Neil SULLIVAN
RB: Paul QUINN
CB: Jamie McCOMBE
CB: Rob JONES
LB: Tommy SPURR
RM: David COTTERILL
CM: John LUNDSTRAM
CM: Dean FURMAN
LM: James HUSBAND
CF: Billy PAYNTER
CF: James COPPINGER
Pompey
GK: Simon EASTWOOD
RB: Yassin MOUTAOUAKIL
CB: Ricardo ROCHA
CB: Gabor GYEPES
LB: Dan BUTLER
RM: Liam WALKER
CM: Johnny ERTL
CM: Therry RACON
LM: Jed WALLACE
CF: David CONNOLLY
CF: Patrick AGYEMANG
Last Time: Doncaster Rovers 3 Portsmouth 4 (Championship - 14/04/2012)
Rovers raced into a two goal lead with Habib Beye and Fabien Robert scoring in the first seven minutes and it remained that way until Beye was sent off for nothing by referee Mike Russell.
That dismissal was compounded as Greg Halford dispatched two soft penalties to level the scores only for James Coppinger to give Rovers the lead again.
Just as it seemed that Pompey would lose and be relegated, Russell allowed Dave Kitson's blatant handball goal to stand in the 90th minute and then Marko Futacs scored in the last minute of stoppage time to send Doncaster down instead and leave their fans, players, manager and chairman absolutely furious.
My Prediction
I don't think Mike Russell will be in charge of this game and despite our improvement, I think the best side in the division will get their revenge for last season.
Doncaster Rovers 1 Portsmouth 0