Ipswich Town will continue their promotion bid when they travel to Fratton Park for their rearranged Championship fixture against Portsmouth on Tuesday.
The Tractor Boys are sitting in fourth spot in the league table, while Pompey are in 20th place and four points clear of the drop zone.
Match preview
Portsmouth have boosted their Championship survival hopes with an impressive run of form that has seen them lose just once in nine league games.
In fact, John Mousinho‘s side have gone four consecutive matches without defeat, beginning with a narrow 1-0 away win over Sheffield United.
After picking up a point away to Watford, Portsmouth went on to draw 1-1 with Southampton in the south coast derby, before they returned to winning ways in Saturday’s home meeting with relegation rivals West Bromwich Albion.
Conor Chaplin opened the scoring with his first goal since returning to the club on loan from Ipswich in the summer, before January additions Millenic Alli and Ebou Adams took Pompey’s tally to three.
The resounding 3-0 victory extended Portsmouth’s unbeaten home run to five matches and moved them four points clear of the bottom three.
Pompey have struggled in recent meetings with Ipswich, having failed to win any of their last five league encounters since they claimed a 2-1 victory at Fratton Park in March 2021 – a game in which midfielder Andre Dozzell played for the Tractor Boys.
© Imago / Pro Sports Images
Ipswich are sitting in fourth spot and seven points adrift of the top two after winning 14, drawing nine and losing six of their 29 league games this term.
Their bid to secure an immediate return to the Premier League has lost some momentum with a return of one point from their last two matches.
Jack Clarke scored what proved to be a consolation penalty in a 3-1 away loss to Sheffield United, before he netted another spot-kick to salvage a 1-1 draw from Saturday’s home clash with Preston North End.
Kieran McKenna‘s side will be keen to return to winning ways on Tuesday, but that will be easier said than done for a team that have won just one of their previous six away matches (D2, L3).
They will at least enter the game as the league’s second-highest scorers, having racked up 49 goals this term, including a couple in September’s 2-1 win against Pompey at Portman Road.
The visitors now have the chance to claim a league double over Portsmouth for the first time since they recorded a pair of 1-0 victories in the 2011-12 campaign.
Portsmouth Championship form:
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Portsmouth form (all competitions):
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Ipswich Town Championship form:
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Ipswich Town form (all competitions):
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Team News
© Imago / IMAGO / Pro Sports Images
Portsmouth’s lengthy injury list features Josh Murphy, Thomas Waddingham, Franco Umeh, Harvey Blair, Mark Kosznovszky, Hayden Matthews, Josh Knight and Conor Shaughnessy.
Forward Colby Bishop is a major doubt after being forced off in the 70th minute of Saturday’s win over West Brom.
Chaplin will definitely miss the home fixture, with the Ipswich loanee ineligible to face his parent club.
Meanwhile, Ipswich remain without long-term absentee Conor Townsend, while Ashley Young is set for a spell on the sidelines with a hip problem.
McKenna has hinted that one of Jaden Philogene or Marcelino Nunez could return in time for Tuesday’s away trip.
Jack Taylor and Sindre Walle Egeli could come into McKenna’s thinking if he opts to freshen up his starting lineup.
Portsmouth possible starting lineup:
Schmid; Devlin, Poole, Ogilvie, Swanson; Dozzell, Adams; Alli, Segecic, Anderson; Kirk
Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:
Walton; Furlong, O’Shea, Kipre, Davis; Matusiwa, Taylor; Egeli, Mehmeti, Clarke; Azon
We say: Portsmouth 1-1 Ipswich Town
Ipswich will be desperate to pick up three points to boost their promotion hopes, but they have found wins hard to come by in recent away games, and we think they will be held to a point by a Portsmouth side that have lost just one of their last nine Championship matches.
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