Kwadwo Baah speaks out as Portsmouth return blown – ‘I tried’
Portsmouth have six huge games separating them from Championship safety – three at home and three away.
The Blues next face a trip to Coventry City (9 April), looking to avoid a 12th away defeat in 13 – a horrendous record which has single-handedly kept the doubts alive over survival.
A potential six-pointer than awaits this weekend against Derby County, and Watford are also one of Pompey’s final Fratton Park opponents.
While the home form has kept John Mousinho and Portsmouth afloat so far, the reverse fixture against Watford on Boxing Day was a prime example of the Blues losing via fine margins on their travels.
Kwadwo Baah dashes potential Portsmouth return
One of the most peculiar incidents of this season for Portsmouth was the altercation between a section of supporters and some of the Blues players with Watford man Baah.
The Hornets forward played a part in the 2-1 win for Watford at Vicarage Road back in the festive period, and took great pleasure in goading the travelling Pompey fans with a ‘take the L’ dance synonymous with 2010s and ’20s computer game Fortnite.
The incident was taken exception to by several of Mousinho’s team, most notably including Terry Devlin, while numerous social media exchanges have since taken place between Baah and Blues fans.
The general vibe of the hostility has turned into more harmless banter as the months have progressed, with Baah having nursed an injury for much of that time – for which he had promised he would be fit to feature at Fratton Park and revel in the pantomime villain reception from the crowd.
However, Watford confirmed earlier this week Baah has suffered a reoccurrence of his injury, which will rule him out of the Fratton contest on 21 April, Easter Monday.
Baah took to X (6 April) to send his apologies: “I tried. Maybe next year, deal?”, followed by a nose-blowing emotional emoji and a smile emoji.
Coventry contest in full focus before Derby make-or-break
Opta deduced via their detailed algorithm that Portsmouth now have a 4.52 per cent chance of relegation back to League One following yet another late away loss on Saturday, against Millwall (5 April).
The defeat at The Den has dragged Pompey back to within four points of the drop, though still in 17th in a tightly-contested survival battle.
| Portsmouth – final six fixtures | Date |
| Coventry (A) | 9 April |
| Derby (H) | 12 April |
| Norwich (A) | 18 April |
| Watford (H) | 21 April |
| Sheffield Wed (A) | 26 April |
| Hull (H) | 3 May |
The trip to Coventry has not given much hope to Mousinho’s men with Opta either, who rank Frank Lampard’s hosts with a 55 per cent probability of taking the points on Wednesday night.
While that game in the West Midlands takes full priority for the Pompey squad at present, taking on Derby at Fratton this Saturday is a potential six-pointer – especially if they come up short in midweek.