In two of the last three seasons, Pompey has been to the Sky Bet League One play-offs and head coach Danny Cowley has been tasked with finally capitalising on the club’s recent attempts for promotion to the Championship.
In 2019/20, the club lost on penalties to Oxford United following a pair of 1-1 draw performances across both legs (home and away). At the conclusion of the 2017/18 campaign, it was Sunderland advancing past Pompey in the League One play-offs with just a single goal separating the two sides – that coming in a decisive first leg tie at the Stadium of Light.
However, Portsmouth arrive at Fratton Park for the weekend on the back of a 2-1 win at home in a midweek with Burton Albion on Tuesday. That result turned around what had been a poor run of form for the promotion hopefuls. Since the start of the 2022 calendar year, Portsmouth have managed to win just two of their nine games played to date, including five losses and two draws in that span across all competitions.
In their last 10 League One games, Portsmouth have won three, lost four and drawn three. In their last 15 games across all competitions, the club has fared a bit better, winning six, losing six and drawing three games. Of those six losses, one came at the hands of Harrogate Town in the Emirates FA Cup in December, and another to Cambridge United in the Papa John’s Trophy at the beginning of January.
Cowley’s Pompey side had experienced a bit of positivity in November as the team were flying. The team won five, lost one and drew one in seven matches across all competitions in the month. In fact, it kicked off a run that saw Pompey record their last set of consecutive League One wins, where the club won four consecutive league matches from 13 November 13 through 27 November. In all games, Pompey went unbeaten stretching from a 23 October draw with Accrington Stanley (2-2) through a 0-0 draw with Cambridge United on 3 January. Pompey did not drop points in League One until a loss to MK Dons on 15 January – a stretch of 11 league matches.
The team are now sit in eleventh in the league table on 41 points, having scored 34 league goals and allowed 31 goals in all league matches. However, when scoring two or more goals in a game this season, Pompey has won eight, lost just two and drawn three of the 13 games for which they have scored multiple goals. But in the month of February, the team has scored four and allowed four, including the 3-2 loss at Oxford United a week ago, in a game which Cowley says his team showed a good response and he thought played well even in defeat.
Though the previous match with Rovers this season back in August ended up 0-0 at Eco-Power Stadium, the series between the two clubs has seen Rovers come out victorious in most of the recent meetings. Rovers have won five of the last nine meetings dating back to the 2016/17 season with both clubs in Sky Bet League Two, while the two shared points in three games and Pompey claimed their last win over Rovers back on 5 October 2019.
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