Joe Elvin

Tue 23 September 2025 19:00, UK

Portsmouth fans are still reeling after their embarrassing 2-0 loss to Sheffield Wednesday.

Goals from Barry Bannan and George Brown sank Pompey and earned the Owls their first win of the season at Fratton Park on Saturday.

Portsmouth were heavy favourites to beat Sheffield Wednesday, but the visitors were more urgent on the ball and more ruthless with their goalscoring chances.

Pompey fans are continuing to unpick what went wrong against the Owls on social media, and how John Mousinho can turn things around in Portsmouth’s next game against Ipswich.

However, their moods may have been further dampened by an Instagram post from a former Southampton player.

Former Southampton defender Yan Valery rubs salt in the wound after helping to defeat Portsmouth

This match has been labelled as one of Portsmouth’s worst home defeats since the Eisners took control of the club.

Sheffield Wednesday had several star players terminate their contracts in the summer, meaning they were forced to field several inexperienced youth academy products at Fratton Park.

Their centre-half, Ernie Weaver, was making his EFL debut and helped keep a clean sheet despite being tasked with marking Colby Bishop.

Teenage striker Brown also scored his first-ever professional goal to kill off Pompey.

Former Southampton defender Yan Valery was one of the more senior players in the Owls line-up, and he wasted no time in rubbing salt in Pompey’s wounds after the victory.

After the game, he delivered an Instagram post celebrating the win. The caption read: “Three points, clean sheet and always a pleasure to win at Fratton Park.”

• Read more: Portsmouth player ratings vs Sheffield Wednesday – Florian Bianchini woeful, 7/10 shining light

Embarrassing Portsmouth defeat worsened by injury woes

On its own, the defeat to Sheffield Wednesday could be seen as nothing but a minor setback for Portsmouth.

However, the injury to Conor Shaughnessy and the subsequent fitness updates from John Mousinho made the future seem much bleaker for Portsmouth.

Yang Min-hyeok and Thomas Waddingham are set to miss the next few weeks of action, while Callum Lang, Nicolas Schmid and Josh Murphy were already missing.

Some of Mousinho’s squad players will now have to step up against Ipswich and throughout October to ensure they don’t get dragged into a relegation dogfight over the winter period.

Portsmouth are still in mid-table — and still above Southampton — as things stand. The supporters would love it to stay like that.

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