Wycombe Wanderers come to Portsmouth for the first ever league meeting between to the two sides, hoping to repeat their performance from the Johnstone's Paint Trophy match last season.
Team News
Trevor Carson will replace Phil Smith in goal in what will probably be the only change from Saturday's narrow win over Bury as John Marquis has extended his loan from Millwall for another month. Danny East, Tom Craddock, Simon Ferry and David Connolly are all still sidelined.
Gareth Ainsworth may stick with the same team that won at Bristol Rovers during the weekend but Sam Wood may return to the starting line-up having missed the last match with an illness.
The Match
The Chairboys have won their last two games and will come to Portsmouth in confident mood but form seems to count for nothing in this division. After all, York hadn't won since opening day before smashing Pompey at Bootham Crescent. Rochdale, on a four game winning streak, then came to Fratton Park and got battered so form is no guide when it comes to predicting League Two.
Most Pompey fans will accept that their team was second best against Bury on Saturday and an improvement going forward is needed after only creating a handful of chances. Wycombe like to play narrow so this match might provide an opportunity for Ricky Holmes and Jed Wallace to influence the game from the wings.
One noticeable difference in Pompey's play this season from previous campaigns is that they are now a threat from set-pieces. In Holmes Pompey someone who can deliver a decent ball into the area and Bondz N'Gala has been grateful to accept the gifts. What price on him bagging another goal tomorrow or perhaps Sonny Bradley will get in on the act?
The visitors' main threat is likely to be Paris Cowan-Hall who scored on his Wycombe debut and returned from injury to score a brace against Torquay a fortnight ago. Having been released by Portsmouth as a youngster he will certainly have a point to prove and is one to watch.
A win for Whittingham's men tomorrow should see a massive leap up the League Two table and fans talking about promotion prospects once again, but an improvement on Saturday's showing is needed as Pompey aren't likely to be so lucky again.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Pompey
GK: Trevor CARSON
RB: Yassin MOUTAOUAKIL
CB: Sonny BRADLEY
CB: Bondz N'GALA
LB: Joe DEVERA
RM: Jed WALLACE
CM: Therry RACON
CM: Johnny ERTL
LM: Ricky HOLMES
CF: Patrick AGYEMANG
CF: John MARQUIS
Wycombe
GK: Matt INGRAM
RB: Nick ARNOLD
CB: Gary DOHERTY
CB: Kourtney HAUSE
LB: Charles DUNNE
RM: Josh SCOWEN
CM: Stuart LEWIS
CM: Billy KNOTT
LM: Matt BLOOMFIELD
CF: Matt McCLURE
CF: Paris COWAN-HALL
Last Time: Portsmouth 1 Wycombe Wanderers 3 (Johnstone's Paint Trophy - 09/10/2012)
Fans had barely taken their seats when Joel Grant curled the ball past Simon Eastwood after just 13 seconds. Dean Morgan then scored a second thanks to some woeful defending before ten minutes had even been played.
Izale McLeod pounced on a loose ball right before half-time but Morgan scored a rebound from a penalty in the second half to win the match and embarrass Michael Appleton's men.
My Prediction
If Pompey play like they did on Saturday then they'll lose but an improvement is expected and I fancy us to win this one for no real logical reason as this division is just too difficult to predict at times.
Source: Fratton Faithful
Source: FOOTYMAD
