Pompey fans make the long trip up to Cleethorpes tomorrow hoping that their team's decent away form continues against Grimsby Town.
Team News
Jack Whatmough will miss tomorrow's match with a tight hamstring whilst Curtis Main remains sidelined with an abdominal injury. Paul Cook must decide whether to include Michael Doyle and Christian Burgess following their altercation a fortnight ago.
Ben Davies will miss the chance to play against his former club as he is sidelined with a calf problem. Sam McCallister and Dominic Vose are also missing with groin and thigh injuries respectively.
The Match
It has become virtually impossible to predict just how Pompey will perform this season with their last two results summing up just how inconsistent the current team is.
Despite the damaging defeat to Stevenage, there is cause for optimism ahead of the trip to Blundell Park as Paul Cook's men have taken 11 points from the last 15 available on the road whilst the Mariners have only won three times on home turf this season with the likes of lowly Leyton Orient and Cheltenham taking maximum points from this fixture.
Much of the talk prior to tomorrow's match will be about whether Doyle and Burgess will start. Given that they've both apologised for their behaviour and vowed to move on, it seems like Cook will continue to have faith in them.
What won't be tolerated tomorrow is the low quality of defending that allowed Stevenage to score two pitiful goals. Omar Bogle is currently League Two's top scorer with 16 goals to his name and will be looking to take advantage of any sloppy play from the likes of David Forde.
Expect the front four players to remain the same as those who started against Stevenage as Michael Smith has three goals in his last three games whilst none of the trio behind him will be dropped.
Tomorrow could be a pivotal weekend in the promotion race as Pompey will make up some ground on the teams above them with a win due to Plymouth playing Doncaster and Luton hosting Carlisle. On the other hand, defeat is likely to end up very costly.
Let's just hope the right Portsmouth side turns up tomorrow and proves that victory up north is something they are capable of this season.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Grimsby
GK: James McKEOWN
RB: Zak MILLS
CB: Josh GOWLING
CB: Danny COLLINS
LB: Danny ANDREW
RM: Tom BOLARINWA
CM: Luke SUMMERFIELD
CM: Brandon COMLEY
LM: Ashley CHAMBERS
CF: Kayden JACKSON
CF: Omar BOGLE
Pompey
GK: David FORDE
RB: Gareth EVANS
CB: Christian BURGESS
CB: Matt CLARKE
LB: Enda STEVENS
DM: Michael DOYLE
DM: Danny ROSE
RM: Gary ROBERTS
AM: Carl BAKER
LM: Kyle BENNETT
CF: Michael SMITH
Last Time: Grimsby Town 0 Portsmouth 1 (Division One - 21/08/2002)
Mark Burchill lashed the ball past Danny Coyne with his left foot to win this game late on as Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth side continued their excellent start to what would be their Division One winning campaign. Conversely, Grimsby were relegated to Division Two after finishing bottom of the league as their decline began.
My Prediction
Who knows what will happen? Pompey's away form has been impressive but they struggle up north. Grimsby are bound to score given their firepower up front but they also concede silly goals, so time to sit on the fence on this one.
Grimsby Town 1 Portsmouth 1