Portsmouth vs Brentford Preview

Last updated : 05 November 2012 By Jim Bonner

Portsmouth take on Brentford tomorrow night but maywell be without Michael Appleton.

Team News

Scott Allan is banned following his red card against Notts County but Carl Dickinson and Mikkel Andersen return after being prevented from playing in the FA Cup by their parent clubs.

Lee Williamson should be available after recovering from a groin strain but Ashley Harris is set to miss out again with an ankle problem.

Bees manager Uwe Rosler is set to bring back a few first team players into his side with goalkeeper Simon Moore, full back Shaleum Logan, midfielder Toumani Diagouraga and striker Jimmy Spencer looking to return to the team after a 2-0 win at Boreham Wood.

The Match

With Michael Appleton odds-on favourite for the Blackpool job, there is a possibility that tomorrow's clash with Brentford wiill see a caretaker manager in the home dugout.

Having said that, the Pompey manager has been heavily linked with many jobs in the Championship and hasn't gone yet, and has said before that he wants to see the job through.

However, given the reports circulating around the internet tonight it seems like Appy is going to be announced as the new Tangerines manager.

Whoever is in charge tomorrow, they will have to find some way of lifting the team spirit and inspire some extra effort from them. Three straight defeats, capped by a woeful performance against Notts County on Saturday has dampened the mood amongst Pompey fans once again.

Brentford strike me as a mid-table club that is dogged by inconsistency and therefore is a team we should be looking to take maximum points from.

However, with all the extra upheaval and the consistently poor defending there is no way that three points can be guaranteed. Another worrying issue is that Pompey haven't been much of a goal threat since Wes Thomas returned to Bournemouth.

It should be an interesting day tomorrow, for more than one reason too.

Predicted Starting Line-Ups

Pompey

GK: Mikkel ANDERSEN

RB: Mustapha DUMBUYA

CB: Gabor GYEPES

CB: Lubomir MICHALIK

LB: Carl DICKINSON

RM: Jon HARLEY

CM: Brian HOWARD

CM: Johnny ERTL

LM: Akos BUZSAKY

CF: Izale McLEOD

CF: Luke RODGERS

Brentford

GK: Simon MOORE

RB: Kevin O'CONNOR

CB: Tony CRAIG

CB: Jake BIDWELL

LB: Shaleum LOGAN

RM: Leon LEGGE

CM: Tom ADEYEMI

CM: Jonathan DOUGLAS

LM: Harry FORRESTER

CF: Clayton DONALDSON

CF: James SPENCER

Last Time: Portsmouth 1 Brentford 0 (Division One - 23/01/1993)

Warren Aspinall was the scorer of the Pompey goal that was enough to see off Phil Holder's Bees who were relegated at the end of the season.

My Prediction

This game will be completely unpredictable, so who knows what will happen? Recent results suggest another defeat but I think this will be a draw.

Portsmouth 1 Brentford 1