Pompey will be aiming for a second consecutive home win in the same week when they host struggling Cheltenham at Fratton Park tomorrow night.
Team News
Paul Robinson is expected to be out of action for weeks after sustaining a cheekbone fracture following a block tackle in Saturday's win over Luton. Either Ben Chorley or Adam Webster will replace him whilst Josh Passley may be fit enough to reclaim his place at wing back.
Jack Maloney has been released by Pompey and has joined Bognor Regis for the rest of the season.
Cheltenham caretaker boss Russell Milton is set to name an unchanged side after their 1-1 draw at Newport last Friday with Trevor Carson making his first appearance at Fratton Park since the final match of last season.
The Match
There seems to be mixed views about Saturday's win over Luton with some claiming it was marvellous and others, like myself, who thought that the team were a little fortunate to win the game.
The result was something to build on but Pompey may find this game tougher than Saturday's because of the loss of Paul Robinson who has been far and away the best defender in the team this season.
Awford has a tough call to make when it comes to his replacement but calling upon Ben Chorley's experience in favour of Adam Webster's youth seems to be the most likely outcome.
Cheltenham come to Fratton Park with shunned goalkeeper Trevor Carson looking to make a point having not been offered a contract last summer. What are the odds on him having a blinder and denying Pompey a goal tomorrow?
The answer should be "pretty big" given the form of Pompey's "T 'n' T" strikeforce of Taylor and Tubbs who are bound to cause plenty of problems for a defence which rarely keeps clean sheets. If they keep banging the goals in, that awful pun may just catch on...
The Robins' main threat is going to be the pace of Danny Haynes, a player once coveted by Pompey when he was at Ipswich and had plenty of potential. He hasn't quite fulfilled that as his goalscoring ratio conveys but he's still a threat and likely to be handful for Chorley and co. tomorrow evening.
Whoever plays, there can be no excuses for not beating a team that are currently 22nd in League Two. Pompey may well be missing their best defender and up against a goalkeeper with a point to prove but anything less than three points tomorrow night would represent a bad return for Andy Awford's men.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Pompey
GK: Paul JONES
RWB: Andy BARCHAM
CB: Ben CHORLEY
CB: Jack WHATMOUGH
CB: Joe DEVERA
LWB: Dan BUTLER
CM: James DUNNE
CM: Danny HOLLANDS
CM: Jed WALLACE
CF: Ryan TAYLOR
CF: Matt TUBBS
Cheltenham
GK: Trevor CARSON
RB: Durrell BERRY
CB: Will PACKWOOD
CB: Troy BROWN
LB: Pablo MILLS
CM: Matt RICHARDS
CM: Craig BRAHAM-BARRETT
CM: Matt SPARROW
RWF: Wes BURNS
LWF: Shaun HARRAD
CF: Danny HAYNES
Last Time: Portsmouth 0 Cheltenham Town 0 (League Two - 08/03/2014)
This was a rather drab match between two poor teams guilty of missing chances in the first half and then playing some terrible football in the second. Definitely a game to forget.
My Prediction
Pompey should have enough to win this game but are likely to make it tough for themselves, especially if Carson decides to prove his point well.
Portsmouth 2 Cheltenham Town 1