I am in that same category. Boro have had a poor season in the league and are the epitamy of inconsistancy. They have managed convincing victories over Chelsea and Manchester United but on the flip side they also have lost to Sunderland. On top of that Steve McLaren has hinted he will be playing a weakened side tommorow because he wants to save his best players for the two cup semi-finals coming up, which has prompted more moaning from Steve Bruce. Hard luck potato head.
One player almost certain to start will be former Pompey hitman Yakubu. Now I'm not sure what sort of reception he will recieve. I just hope it isn't a bad one after all the goals he scored for us, even if his Pompey career ended on a bit of a dull note. We all know the dangers of The Yak and he has already taken points from us by scoring against us at The Riverside. Harry should know his weaknesses though, along with our defence but I can still see him scoring tommorow, such is fate. Therefore it's a good thing that Lomana Lua Lua has been passed fit to play tommorow because as frustrating as he is, he is capable of getting goals out of nothing and is looking to score his fifth goal in as many games.
Our team is unlikely to change from the side that drew with Arsenal on Wednesday, so that means Benjani will start once again. I have no problem with that considering how well he played against them. I do have a feeling he will score tommorow in another one of my predictions for the game. It would also be a good time for D'Alessandro and Routledge to get a debut goal for Pompey tommorow, especially against a Middlesbrough side that is likely to contain quite a few inexperienced players.
As stated before, this is a game most Pompey fans are looking to win, considering we are also Middlesbrough's bogey team (they haven't beaten us at Fratton Park since 1990) and have a 100% Premiership record against them at home. I just hope that the "must win" expectations of this game doesn't put more pressure on the players as that will work against us. If we win tommorow we would jump out of the bottom three for the first time in ages, the same if we draw but I would consider that a bad result so three points are the priority.
Both teams love to score, both teams also love to concede so I can see this one being a cracker. I just hope we score more than they do!
Pundit Watch
Lawro: Home Win (2-1)
Townsend: Home Win (2-1)
Sky Sports: Home Win (2-0)