Pompey welcome Hull City to Fratton Park tomorrow for what may be the penultimate home game of the club's existence.
Team News
Michael Appleton is set to name the same side that thrashed Peterborough last week as David Norris is still suspended and both Aaron Mokoena and Luke Varney are still injured.
Nick Barmby can welcome back midfielder Robbie Brady to the Hull side after his absence during the Tigers' goalless draw at home to lowly Doncaster during the week.
The Match
Following such a fantastic win at Peterborough last week and a transfer window that didn't see the expected fire sale take place, Pompey fans will turn up to Fratton Park in relatively high spirits tomorrow.
Hopefully the fans will "pack the park" now that the ridiculous £2 surcharge has been dropped for fans that pay on the day along with the "kids for a quid" and bargain family ticket offers that the club should really be doing better to promote.
However many people turn up, they can expect to be treated to a fairly good game of football.
'Appy's football philosophy is starting to take its effect on the team now with players performing more effectively in certain positions and the defence playing the ball from the back rather than aimlessly hoofing it back to the opposition.
On the same note, Hull have been playing some good football since Nick Barmby took over from Nigel Pearson and his team should prove a stern test given that they're currently 6th in the Championship and have one of the meanest defences in the division.
However, the Tigers have had a couple of bad results as they failed to score against lowly Doncaster on Tuesday and were knocked out of the FA Cup by League Two side Crawley Town on their own ground on Saturday.
Therefore, there is plenty of hope that Pompey can win this game and put even more distance between themselves and the bottom three in preparation for a possible points deduction in the future.
Because the long-term future currently holds little hope for us, so we may as well enjoy the present as much as we can.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Pompey
GK: Stephen HENDERSON
RB: Tal BEN-HAIM
CB: Jason PEARCE
CB: Ricardo ROCHA
LB: Greg HALFORD
RM: Kelvin ETUHU
CM: Joel WARD
CM: Hayden MULLINS
LM: Liam LAWRENCE
SS: Erik HUSEKLEPP
CF: Marko FUTACS
Hull
GK: Vito MANNONE
RB: Andy DAWSON
CB: James CHESTER
CB: Jack HOBBS
LB: Liam ROSENIOR
RM: Robert KOREN
CM: Robbie BRADY
CM: Seyi OLOFINJANA
LM: Cameron STEWART
CF: Aaron McLEAN
CF: Matty FRYATT
Last Time: Portsmouth 2 Hull City 3 (Championship - 03/01/2011)
After dominating the first half, Pompey fell behind when Halford felled Stewart in the box with Jimmy Bullard converting the resultng penalty. Liam Lawrence then scored a spot kick of his own in the second half to restore parity.
Pompey pushed forward but were hit with a double-suckerpunch as Fryatt and Barmby took advantage of slack defending to put the Tigers 3-1 up. Halford headed in a corner with 15 minutes to go but the home side couldn't find an equaliser.
Click here for the Fratton Faithful Hull City Championship Profile Page.
My Prediction
There will be torrid times ahead with Paul Jewell running his mouth about taking our players on loan nex week, not to mention more tough fixtures to come this month before the winding-up hearing.
I think our lads will edge what should be a tough game and get some payback for the result at the KC Stadium earlier in the season.
Portsmouth 1 Hull City 0
Source: FOOTYMAD
