'The pressure is now certainly on Pompey'

Portsmouth know all about premature feelings of Championship safety.

It was 12 months ago when they enjoyed a stunning win against Leeds United to move 10 points clear of the relegation zone.

Seven days and two defeats later, including one to rock bottom Plymouth, the gap was four points and a nervy finale ensued.

No-one was getting carried away when Pompey were six points above the drop zone a few weeks ago but they were playing well and seemingly in a healthy position.

Tuesday night's first-half horror show against Swansea was concerning but came after 11 fairly decent performances in a row.

Only the very best teams do not have a poor game occasionally.

But as John Mousinho pointed out after the match, Pompey are paying the price for failing to cash in when playing well.

They were the better side against Sheffield United and Hull. Both should have been draws at the very least but were defeats.

They should have seen out the match against Blackburn Rovers.

An extra four points would be very useful right now but then every football fan and manager looks at the table thinking "if only".

If you had told a Pompey fan at the start of the season that Josh Murphy and Conor Shaughnessy would miss most of the season injured, Callum Lang would hardly play and be sold and Colby Bishop would be a shadow of the striker he was last season, I am fairly sure they would have bitten your hand off to be sitting in 19th with 10 matches to play.

Pompey's budget is understood to be small, potentially 23rd, above only Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship.

Staying up would again be a brilliant achievement, especially with all the injuries.

But they had put themselves in an excellent position and will forever be kicking themselves if they can't see the job out from here.

If Swansea is just a one-off they should be OK. But after three home defeats in a row Monday night's visit of Derby County feels like a huge game.

Mousinho has said he believes his team perform better under pressure.

The pressure is now certainly on.