Ipswich Town entertain Portsmouth at Portman Road on Saturday afternoon. MIKE BACON takes a look at Pompey, their season so far and their injury boost.
The story so far....
Third in the table (on goal difference to Ipswich), one point behind leaders Plymouth with a game in hand, Portsmouth have made a good start to the League One season.
They are the only unbeaten side in the division and come to Portman Road having enjoyed a two-week break, with their game against Bolton called off because of international commitments last weekend.
While they are unbeaten, they have drawn three of their nine games and were mighty close to losing that unbeaten record when they met Plymouth in their most recent game two weeks ago. Reeco Hackett-Fairchild's 94th-minute equaliser saved Pompey on that occasion in a 2-2 draw.
Portsmouth began the season with a fine 3-3 draw at Sheffield Wednesday, while Lincoln (0-0) were the other side to take a point off them, as Pompey actually started their League One campaign with two draws.
They are a good side and have a run of fixtures ahead, including against the likes of Fleetwood, Forest Green and Shrewsbury you would expect them to win.
Meet the boss
Danny Cowley may well be making his name now in the professional game, but it was in non-league he and his brother, Nicky, came to the fore. His rise through the pyramid of football has been impressive.
After retiring because of injury, Cowley, a midfielder in his playing days, went into management at his local club, Concord Rangers. There he helped transform them from Step five Essex Senior League to Step Two, National South and attendances increased from 50 to 350.
He moved up another Step to Braintree Town where he guided them to the National League play-offs and just one step away from the Football League. Lincoln, another National League side, came calling, and Cowley delivered again, this time taking them into the Football League after promotion in the 2016/17 season.
Huddersfield Town were the next to come calling for Cowley's services but he didn't enjoy the success he had at other clubs during what was a short tenure. He took a short spell out of the game before, in March 2021, he was appointed manager of Portsmouth. In his first game, against Ipswich, Portsmouth came from behind to win 2-1.
The Bish attack
Portsmouth's main goal threat comes from Colby Bishop.
He has netted five times in League One this season and is a player Town were keen on during Paul Cook's tenure.
The former Accrington man scored 12 goals in each of his two League One seasons in Stanley colours after coming through the non-league game to reach the third tier.
In 2019 he scored both goals for Accrington to condemn Paul Lambert’s side to defeat in a televised clash at the Wham Stadium. Town’s season never really recovered. It's clear why Ipswich were interested in him.
However, it was Portsmouth he chose to go to in the summer. Town will need to keep a close eye on him.
Injury boost for Pompey
Pompey have been handed a triple injury boost ahead of the trip to Ipswich.
Boss, Cowley has confirmed Tom Lowery, Joe Rafferty and Michael Jacobs are all available for the top-of-the-table game at Portman Road.
They’ve trained all week following injury setbacks in recent weeks and are under consideration for the eagerly-anticipated head-to-head.
Head-to-head
Town and Pompey first met in 1959 in a Division Two clash - Town winning 2-0 on the south coast.
The two sides have met 49 times in all competitions, Town holding the slight upper hand of 20 wins, to Pompey's 16. Throughout the 1990s, Town had the Indian sign on Portsmouth. The two sides met 15 times, Portsmouth only winning once.
However, in more recent times the tables have turned. The last eight meetings, three in the FA Cup, have seen Portsmouth win five of them, with two draws and just one defeat, when Paul Cook orchestrated a 4-0 win at Fratton Park this time last year.
The two teams drew 0-0 at Portman Road last season with Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley reflecting this week: "We went there last year and were pleased with our performance, particularly against the ball, but didn’t quite ask them as many questions as we would have liked offensively."
Pompey have been a bit of a bogey side now for Town for a while.
What the bookies say
Despite Portsmouth being the only unbeaten side in League One, it's Town who are favourites with all the bookies for this one, while you can get up to 18/5 for a Pompey victory. Again the draw looks decent though.
TOWN WIN: 4/5: PORTSMOUTH WIN: 16/5: THE DRAW: 13/5
Did you know?
Portsmouth was the birthplace of Charles Dickens, one of the UK’s most famous writers and author of Oliver Twist, Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol. The city was later included in his novel Nicholas Nickelby.
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