ECHOSPORT talks to Portsmouth fan Joe Robbins ahead of tomorrow’s clash at Roots Hall.

What have you made of the season so far?

“Pre Christmas it was absolutely fantastic. Playing good football, grinding out wins when needed and seven points clear. But since then it’s been a bit of a struggle for whatever reason and our form has really dipped away.”

Portsmouth are still third in the table but what were the expectations before the season got underway?

“The expectations pre season were for promotion, nothing else. Ideally automatic but I think we’d have taken playoffs. We sell out each week, have a decent budget for this league, and Pompey fans always have high expectations, especially after last season just missing out on the play-offs, despite having a pretty poor season.”

What are the hopes for the rest of the season now?

“The obvious hope now is that we can restart our hunt for automatic promotion. We are very much in the mix with Luton Barnsley and probably Sunderland, I think it’ll be two out of those four. I don’t see any reason we can’t turn our form around but that needs to start this week with two big games against sides in the bottom half of the table.”

It’s one win in eight games for Portsmouth. Why do you think that is?

“I think a major reason in the downturn in form is due to the departure of Ben Thompson. He was on loan from Millwall and was absolutely pivotal to everything we did in the centre of midfield. But unfortunately he was recalled in January and it seems at the moment we’re really struggling to fill that void left. We’ve brought in four or five new players in January so if we want to get promoted, we really need these guys to hit the ground running.”

Who would you say is the dangerman?

“Jamal Lowe is an obvious threat although the last 2/3 games he hasn’t been at his best.

“Omar Bogle has come in and scored two goals already and looks a real handful, and we’ve yet to really see James Vaughan, but I’ve got a feeling he may be involved Saturday.

Predicted line up: McGillavray, N Thompson Clarke Burgess Brown, Close Morris, Lowe Evans Curtis, Bogle.