Team News
Greg Halford is suspended for this fixture for picking up his fifth yellow card at Norwich so Joel Ward will take his place at right back whilst Carl Dickinson returns at left back following a three-game ban.
Steve Cotterill must also decide whether to play Michael Brown or Richard Hughes in the centre of midfield with both only two squad appearances away from automatically renewing their contract on wages that Pompey simply cannot afford.
Millwall are likely to be without captain Paul Robinson who has a hamstring injury but the news is more promising for striker Kevin Lisbie and midfielder Liam Trotter.
The Match
It has been a while since Pompey won a match on Boxing Day - 2006 to be precise. That was a 2-1 win over West Ham at Upton Park but since then the Hammers have beaten us twice and Arsenal were held to a draw back in 2007.
West Ham's rivals arrive at Fratton Park for this season's festive fixture in good form as they're unbeaten in four. Pompey haven't won at Fratton Park since beating Nottingham Forest 2-1 on October 30th.
Portsmouth's last home game resulted in a 3-2 defeat to Doncaster but that was way back on November 13th. Since then, Pompey have recorded two excellent away wins at promotion chasing Swansea and Norwich and look to be back on form.
Victory in this game (which kicks off at 1pm) could temporarily take Pompey into 7th in the table so that should be a major incentive for a team whose staff constantly talk about a push for the play-offs, with six points seperating Portsmouth (with two games in hand) and Coventry in 6th.
I can't see why we shouldn't win. I'm not sure if having Dickinson back is going to be a boost but now Kitson has finally broken his duck perhaps he might start a goalscoring run whilst Nugent and Lawrence have always performed well at Fratton Park and I expect Boxing Day to be no different.
Kenny Jackett's men will be a tough nut to crack, but I believe we'll have too much for them.
Play up Pompey!
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Pompey
GK: Jamie ASHDOWN
RB: Joel WARD
CB: Aaron MOKOENA
CB: Ricardo ROCHA
LB: Carl DICKINSON
RM: Liam LAWRENCE
CM: Michael BROWN
CM: Hayden MULLINS
LM: John UTAKA
CF: David NUGENT
CF: Dave KITSON
Millwall
GK: David FORDE
RB: Alan DUNNE
CB: Darren WARD
CB: Danny SHITTU
LB: Scott BARRON
RM: Jason PUNCHEON
CM: Nadjim ABDOU
CM: Liam TROTTER
LM: Danny SCHOFIELD
CF: Steve MORISON
CF: Theo ROBINSON
Last Time: Portsmouth 1 Millwall 0 (Division One - 14/09/2002)
A solitary second half goal from Svetoslav Todorov was enough to see Pompey defeat a dogged Millwall team which contained Steve Claridge. The win set a new record for Pompey's best ever start to a season, having won 7 of their first 8 fixtures.
My Prediction
The Lions come to Fratton Park in a good run of form but I'm backing Pompey to bring back some festive cheer and take the three points in a close contest.
Portsmouth 2 Millwall 1