View: Portsmouth will face a key struggle through no fault of their own v Swansea
Portsmouth may struggle, especially in the early stages, against Swansea City on Saturday through reasons out of their control.
John Mousinho’s side have garnered unwanted headlines in recent days having had two matches postponed on the bounces through entirely differing circumstances.
Last Saturday’s trip to Blackburn Rovers [23 November] was called off four hours before kick-off with the squad and majority of fans already in Lancashire, as heavy rainfall put paid to the Ewood Park surface.
Fast-forward to Wednesday night back at Fratton Park [27 November], when both Pompey and Millwall were about to emerge in the tunnel to face off on a chilly South Coast, only for a sub-station power failure to knock out most of the lights.
In the meantime, Pompey have fallen back to the bottom of the Championship having been starved of action, their fans deprived of a game to watch for three weeks.
The Blues were finally looking to secure back-to-back wins and that is still the case, with their last outing now three weeks ago in a 3-1 win over Preston North End [9 November].
But now following another lengthy trip, this time to Swansea [30 November], it will be so tough to maintain any momentum as an international break had also come at the wrong time.
Portsmouth without a game for three weeks
When December begins, the games come thick and fast – and no number of training yards can make up for the reality of an in-game situation.
Both Pompey and Millwall held their own training sessions on the Fratton Park pitch to keep their sharpness ticking over, but the second-straight postponement will have had a resounding effect on Mousinho’s squad.
The club do not compete at Under-21 level which means aside from behind-closed-doors bounce games on the training pitch – which often do not last 90 minutes – a huge squad of professionals have now gone as long without a game as some clubs do over summer these days.
Swansea will be looking to take full advantage – Luke Williams’ side have now got into a recent habit of scoring goals which has long been their struggle this campaign. They were unlucky to lose 4-3 at home to league leaders Leeds United, and on Wednesday took a 2-1 win home from Derby County having led by two inside 14 minutes.
It was so close to kick-off when the Millwall contest took the plunge that the line-up had been released, with Colby Bishop in line for his first start. That could give an idea to Swansea about how the Blues could shape up in South Wales, whereas previously they would really have been none the wiser.
Pompey will not get away with rust, especially defensively, against an unpredictable Swans outfit who are now gathering their feet going forward.
It will be a test of fitness, both mentally and physically, from which Pompey have to prove the doubters wrong or remain bottom for another week.
In other Portsmouth news, the Blues could find their man in January by saving one Championship ace from the abyss.
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