Portsmouth v Ipswich Town: Pompey are struggling for wins - and goals

Story so far

Portsmouth started the season like a house on fire, winning six of their first eight league games, topping the table and remaining unbeaten until October 1, when they headed to Suffolk.

That unbeaten run ended in their first tussle with Town of course, Pompey leaving Portman Road on the wrong side of a pulsating 3-2 cracker.

And ever since then, things have been going wrong at Fratton Park.

Wes Burns and Conor Chaplin celebrate during Town's 3-2 win over Pompey in October

A 1-0 triumph at strugglers Forest Green Rovers on October 22 is their only league victory in the last 12. Seven of those games ended in draws.

Danny Cowley's side have plunged down the table and currently sit in 11th place, without a league goal in 383 minutes.

They have a record of seven wins, nine draws and four defeats from their 20 matches so far, and hold three games in hand on many of the sides in the league.

Were they to win all three of those, they'd be comfortably in the play-off spots - but wins have proved very hard to come by.

Danny Cowley is under pressure at Portsmouth

Pressure on the boss

Inevitably, given Pompey's poor run of form and status as one of the pre-season promotion favourites, Cowley has come under increasing fire from fans.

But, speaking after their 0-0 draw at Exeter on Boxing Day, he insisted that everyone at the club still believes they can make a push for promotion.

"We believe we are close, it felt like it was coming at Exeter, but at the moment we are in a storm where things are not quite going for us," Cowley explained.

"No-one can question the players’ attitude – and should anyone do that then they don’t know the group.

"You can absolutely criticise the performance, but not the attitude and not the work ethic.

"This is a really honest group, they are proud and privileged to play for this football club and fight every day to try to make supporters proud. That's a fact."

He added: "The group are together, there’s a spirit there, they’re a really good group. We are just in a storm and have to navigate through that.

"When you are in a storm, it can be hard, things can go against you, but we are not feeling sorry for ourselves, we are staying really focused and are going to keep working every single day to find solutions."

Backing of the board

Cowley received the dreaded backing of the board before Christmas, after Pompey had been beaten 2-0 at home by struggling MK Dons.

CEO Andy Cullen said: "Danny is one of the most conscientious, hard-working managers in the game, who has a shrewd attention to detail and is a top, top coach.

"If you look throughout his career, he’s had a number of promotions. He has known and tasted success on occasions.

"In any football club you have some dark moments, the way you get through those is belief and togetherness, with a degree of knowing where you are going and having a plan.

"These moments are when you support your manager – and that is why we are giving Danny our 100% support. We really believe what we have inside the building will negate what has been a difficult period."

Cullen added: "We had a really good start to the season, a huge vibrancy and optimism around us, and there’s no reason to suggest that cannot come back.

"We have a difficult period at the moment where we need to find a way to win football matches. We will work night and day to support those at the sharp end on the pitch to achieve that."

Joe Pigott, left, has struggled for playing time at Portsmouth (Image: PA)

Ordinary Joe

While he won't be able to play against Town, you can't run the rule over Pompey without mentioning striker Joe Pigott, who's on a season-long loan on the south coast from Suffolk.

He headed there in search of regular football following a frustrating 2021/22 campaign at Town, but has found himself in a similar situation given the form of strike duo Colby Bishop and Dane Scarlett.

While he started at Exeter due to sickness in the Pompey camp, that was his first start in more than two months. All told, he's seen action in 23 games across all competitions, scoring four goals.

That's led some to suggest that Pigott's loan could be cut short, but Cowley played that down when asked about it.

"We hope Joe doesn’t leave, we don’t want any of our players to leave," he said.

"Our aim is to try to get better in the January period – and that’s what we’re focused on doing.

"I thought Joe did well against Exeter, his hold-up and link play was good, he brought others into the game, he was really intelligent with his movement. He did a good job for the team."

The Pompey boss added: "Joe needs to keep working.

"We know he has some super strengths in terms of his hold-up, link and goal threat, and he’s working really hard for the team against the ball.

"Those are things he needs to keep doing to stay in the team."

Colby Bishop is Portsmouth's danger man (Image: Steve Waller)

Ones to watch

Striker Bishop is clearly Pompey's danger man, having bagged 13 goals in 24 games so far, though he's not scored in December to date.

Spurs loanee Scarlett is also a real threat, if he's fit to play, having scored five goals so far this season.

Winger Owen Dale leads the side in assists with four, one more than Clark Robertson.

As well as scoring plenty, Bishop leads Pompey in chances created, with 20.