Portsmouth

Andrew Moon
BBC Radio Solent's Portsmouth commentator

Image source, Getty Images

A stunning result and a fully deserved victory. This was not a smash-and-grab or counter-attacking performance. Portsmouth more than matched Millwall's intensity and created more opportunities.

The midfield trio of Ebou Adams, Marlon Pack and John Swift looked beautifully balanced. Connor Ogilvie and Regan Poole are an excellent defensive partnership, and Gustavo Caballero and Millenic Alli caused problems on the flanks all day.

Crucially, Pompey's set-piece defending has significantly improved. To outplay Millwall in both boxes is some achievement given where Pompey were less than two months ago.

The January signings have transformed Portsmouth. They still have a lot of work to do to secure their Championship status, but right now they do not look like a side battling at the wrong end of the table.

However, injuries continue to limit John Mousinho's options. Maintaining these levels for two more matches this week in an intense period will not be easy, but Pompey are not a side you would want to play at the moment.

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Boss John Mousinho says Portsmouth's recent improvement can be traced back to the impressive performance in the defeat against Arsenal in the FA Cup at the start of January.

Pompey are now six points clear of the Championship relegation zone following the win over promotion-chasing Millwall - their third win in four matches.

"I know we lost to Arsenal [in the FA Cup], but we were excellent on the day and we've replicated those performances away from home," Mousinho said.

"I think it's come from a reset after [losing to] Bristol City, and a recognition of the fact that we can do both sides of the game pretty well when we put our minds to it.

"To come here and win, against the third best team in the league - we've watched them time and time again be a very impressive side, home and away from home - is very pleasing.

"They've got threats all over the pitch, so to do that off the back of Tuesday [win over Charlton Athletic] was really pleasing. I thought we were excellent throughout."

Image source, Opta

Millwall will aim to keep in touch with the Championship's automatic promotion spots when they welcome a Portsmouth side looking to pull further away from the relegation zone on Saturday (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

The Lions are five points behind second-placed Middlesbrough and eight points clear of seventh following a run of six wins from their past nine games (D2 L1).

Pompey picked up just their third away win of the season at Charlton on Tuesday night to move four points clear of the bottom three with a game in hand on the sides around them.

• Portsmouth won 3-1 against Millwall earlier this season (November 2025). They last won home and away against the Lions in a league campaign in 2002-03 under Harry Redknapp.

• Millwall have only lost two of their past 12 home league games against Portsmouth (W4 D6), and have won the most recent two, including a 2-1 win in this fixture last season (April 2025).

• Millwall have lost just one of their past 10 league games (W6 D3), going down 2-1 to league leaders Coventry City in January.

• Portsmouth have won two of their past four away league games (D1 L1), more than they did across their first 11 league games on the road this season (W1 D4 L6).

• After losing three of their first four home games in the Championship this season (W1), Millwall have lost just once across their past 12 league matches at The Den (W8 D3), being unbeaten in the past five (W3 D2).

Andrew Moon
BBC Radio Solent's Portsmouth commentator

Image source, Getty Images

Michael Eisner doesn't do many interviews on Portsmouth, so when he does speak it feels significant.

Pompey's chairman sat down with American journalist Graham Bensinger for an in depth chat, external about a wide range of topics which was released earlier this week (he also did an "MTV Cribs" style tour around his house for those of a nosey persuasion). Eisner's childhood, Donald Trump and Disney were all on the agenda but intriguingly Portsmouth Football club was the first area covered.

The interview confirmed two things that have long been speculated. Eisner looked at a number of Premier League teams and even opened negotiations before buying Pompey.

BBC South has long understood Reading to be a club he seriously considered buying. Eisner said at the time of the purchase that chief executive Mark Catlin but not the club's board was interested in Eisner taking over.

Bensinger did a pretty good job with the interview although I'd have loved a follow up question on Eisner loaning his sons the money to "make up the deficit" around the purchase. He described the situation as being "a mess" and "financially complicated" but did not elaborate further.

Portsmouth are owned by The Tornante Company, a private equity firm started and controlled by Eisner. All three sons are on the board of directors of the football club. Portsmouth has always been a family business for the Eisners.

Twice Eisner refers to wanting to "build a team up from scratch". That felt a clumsy comment. There's no question that Eisner's significant investment into the stadium and training ground have been important and needed. However, he's built on the foundations laid by the previous owners, the Pompey Supporters Trust and the presidents.

The club Eisner bought in 2017 was only in the state it was in thanks to the blood, sweat, tears and money invested by those two groups. The saving of the club by those groups came at significant personal costs to a number of people.

Eisner is clearly a fan of the new football regulator, which is slowly getting up and running. He is hoping it will reshape the financial landscape allowing sides to have success spending sustainably.

Championship clubs continues to haemorrhage money, as they have done for many years. I don't share his optimism that structural changes will enable clubs to rise to the Premier League spending at a sustainable level.

Whenever Eisner speaks, his fondness for Portsmouth is clear. There has been progress on and off the field under his ownership. Fans will be hoping he can find a way to continue moving forward on both fronts.

Portsmouth winger Harvey Blair may return to the squad for the trip to Millwall on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The 22-year-old has missed seven games with a hip-flexor issue and had been due back for the Sheffield United game on Valentine's Day before encountering issues in his recovery.

"He's been in and out," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent. "He's felt a couple of small niggles that have held him back.

"We will see how he goes today, he's going to do the full training session and we will go from there."

Fellow winger Adrian Segecic should also "be good" for the weekend said Mousinho after spending the Tuesday's win against Charlton on the bench with a dead leg.

Forward Conor Chaplin is due back to training on Saturday after two games out with a groin problem and could make a comeback against Hull City on 28 February (12:30 GMT).

The side will also be without midfielder Andre Dozzell for the trip to the Den, with a return date unknown until Saturday at the earliest, while defender Aji Alese has returned to his parent club Sunderland for treatment on his quad injury.

Winger Josh Murphy could be a week away from a return but an update is needed on his injury before his comeback can be confirmed.

Mousinho added: "If we get good news on the final scan then we will get him back on the grass."

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Puma's Rainbow ball will return to the English Football League as part of an on-going campaign against discrimination and homophobia.

The special edition rainbow ball was introduced in 2024 to mark LGBTQ+ History Month and will be used at every EFL game from 20 February until 1 March.

Manufacturers Puma will make a donation to Football v Homophobia for every goal scored with their rainbow ball across the Championship, League One and League Two.

The donations will help support education against homophobia and promote inclusion across the season.

The EFL have released a video, external to coincide with the campaign which features a Preston North End fan who was charged with a hate crime following homophobic chanting during an FA Cup fixture against Chelsea.

The rainbow ball will also feature in EFL partner EA Sports' FC 26 video game.

"The rainbow ball is a powerful symbol of the values we uphold across the EFL all season long," EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch said.

"It not only reflects our longstanding commitment to ensuring the League is representative of all its diverse communities, but also reminds us that we all have a role to play in creating an environment in which everyone feels they truly belong."

The Portsmouth News' chief sports writer Neil Allen joins Chris Wise and Andy Moon to look back on a big win for Portsmouth at Charlton Athletic as well as the defeat by Sheffield United.

There's also your questions answered in Moon's Musings and an analysis of owner Michael Eisner's recent interview.

Click here to find more episodes and subscribe to the Portsmouth FC page on BBC Sounds.

Portsmouth have to be ready for the challenges ahead despite pulling four points clear of the Championship relegation zone, according to defender Terry Devlin.

The full-back scored twice as Pompey beat Charlton Athletic 3-1 on Tuesday night, their first win after back-to-back league defeats.

Portsmouth now have games against promotion chasers Millwall on Saturday and Wrexham on Tuesday, and the 22-year-old said they have proved they can handle the pressure.

"Tonight [against Charlton] was a big test and we stood up to the challenge," Devlin told BBC Radio Solent. "There's no reason we can't do the same against Millwall and Wrexham."

The victory at The Valley was the second game of five that Portsmouth will play in the space of 15 days, and Devlin said they will have to show plenty of resilience in that run of fixtures.

"You've got to do everything you can to be ready to go Saturday and be ready to be right at it," he said.

"The Championship is relentless. It's physically demanding, so you've got to be on it every single day and be ready whenever."

Listen to more Portsmouth interviews and content from BBC Radio Solent on BBC Sounds.

Tom Chappell
Portsmouth fan writer

Image source, Shutterstock

Tuesday's 3-1 victory at Charlton was by some distance Pompey's best away win of the season - and arguably the most important for a number of reasons.

The fact that this was a game in hand against a bottom end rival, following measly back-to-back defeats cements this as a critical result in the context of Pompey's fight for at least another campaign in English football's second tier.

As the final whistle blew, the players' reaction told you just what an incredibly significant night it was.

Sensational full-time scenes for the 2,500 travelling faithful and the drive home felt like an absolute breeze.

It could easily have been a wholly different story had Nicolas Schmid's outstretched leg not prevented Harry Clarke within the first minute of the game.

What followed was the best 55 minutes we've had on our travels for quite some time.

Three goals all different in nature, fortuitous for the first, pressure penalty for the second and a memorable Terry Devlin special for the third.

The Northern Ireland international is almost a guarantee for player of the season for me.

Ebou Adams has brought a completely fresh face to Pompey's midfield and we had the most we've seen so far from the mercurial Gustavo Caballero.

It almost felt like we got a little giddy at 3-0 and went on to do things we might not otherwise have done had the game been a stalemate.

An hour in, perhaps the neutral would have had Pompey favourites to secure the points, yet those that bleed blue could not relax, knowing full well we've all read similar scripts many times before.

Nathan Jones was quoted post-match saying the away side wanted it more than his players. That will be music to every Pompey fan's ears around the world.

A point from either Millwall or Wrexham and John Mousinho's side will have had a good week on the road.

Anything more than that and relegation concerns might just start to abate for now.

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Andrew Moon
BBC Radio Solent's Portsmouth commentator

Image source, PA Media

There is only so long before performances can be perceived as good without getting a result.

Tuesday night's win was one Pompey needed, and it was fully deserved on their showing.

Terry Devlin did not start a league game until 5 November. He has only missed one since and is fast becoming one of the first names on the team sheet.

He is exactly the kind of young player - willing to learn and determined to get better - that the owners want to sign.

As with previous weeks, Pompey have not quite been able to maintain a performance for 90 minutes but they weathered the storm in the second half. Injuries limiting their options off the bench does not help.

Portsmouth face two huge tests on the road in the coming days at Millwall and then Wrexham. If they perform as they did at Charlton, they will have a chance of getting something.

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho says his side put in a "really strong performance" in the 3-1 win over Charlton at The Valley on Tuesday night.

"Delighted with the result and we matched it with a really good performance," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.

"Take the opening minute or so out of it when Nico saved us - it's easy to forget that when you come away with an important away victory, you look at that and it was just a moment of us being lax defensively but then I think that maybe sharpened us up a bit.

"After that, I thought for 55 minutes we were excellent, fully deserved the lead, came out in the second half and Charlton make three changes, you might expect a different game.

"But we came out, fully deserved to get the third goal and it went a bit crazy after that.

"We made a few very strange decisions after that which we hadn't made but the fact we saw the game out in difficult circumstances is really pleasing."

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho wants to see a fast start from his side when they travel to Charlton on Tuesday (19:45 GMT), after bemoaning a lack of goals in recent games.

"Unfortunately, over the past couple of weeks I think we've controlled games, we've also created chances but we haven't put the ball in the back of the net," he told BBC Radio Solent.

"We've just got to add the goals at the top end of the pitch. Everything underpinning the performance [against Sheffield United] was good but we didn't put the ball in the back of the net at the crucial times."

Pompey are yet to score in February after back-to-back 1-0 defeats by the Blades and Preston North End, and have only scored more than one goal once in 2026, in the 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.

Mousinho's side travel to Charlton in the rearranged fixture that was abandoned in December when a Charlton fan had a medical emergency in the stands during the game and later died in hospital.

"A strong start is important. It's important away from home on a Tuesday night when Charlton haven't had a game at the weekend to maybe just try to dampen everything down and make sure that we control the game," Mousinho said.

The Charlton game marks the start of a run of three away games in eight days for Pompey as they also travel to Millwall and Wrexham in the Championship.

"We've got three away games in a very short space of time. [It's] really unfortunate considering the [Charlton] game was called off before Christmas and that's really added pressure on the fixtures this week. We have to make sure we try to do our best to deal with those three consecutive away games," Mousinho said.

"[There's] plenty of points to play for, we just have to try to pick up as many points as we can. That's the priority."

Portsmouth are looking to do the league double over Charlton after their 2-1 win at Fratton Park over Christmas, something that hasn't happened since the 1985-86 season.

"They're a very solid side as you'd expect a Nathan Jones side to be," added Mousinho.

"They create a lot of problems with the way that they play with the physicality they have on display, they're really effective, particularly at home recently."

Listen to the full interview with John Mousinho and more Pompey content on BBC Sounds.

Portsmouth's Terry Devlin has said interest from other clubs during the winter transfer window could act as a confidence boost.

The Northern Ireland international, 22, was linked with a move away from the club this season, prompting boss John Mousinho to announce the defender was not for sale.

And with Pompey finding themselves in the midst of a relegation battle, Devlin has insisted that his mind is solely on his current club.

"It shows that I'm doing something right so hopefully it should give me a bit of confidence," Devlin told BBC Radio Solent.

"My only focus is on Portsmouth right now and finishing the season strong."

Portsmouth are currently in 21st place in the Championship table, just one point above Leicester City but with two games in hand.

One of those is on Tuesday (19:45 GMT) when Pompey make the trip to Charlton Athletic, who have taken seven points across their past three games to put them six points ahead of their visitors.

Devlin added: "It's even bigger now [the Charlton game] after losing [to Sheffield United].

"We need to go there and get a good result and bring them closer to us."

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds

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Portsmouth boss John Mousinho has revealed his side have been dealt a further injury blow with Adrian Segecic and Andre Dozzell both set to miss their game against Charlton Athletic on Tuesday.

The Blues have struggled with injuries across this campaign and last week received bad news about January signing Aji Alese, who suffered a season-ending groin tear in their recent defeat to Preston North End.

And Dozzell was forced off in the first 10 minutes of their defeat by Sheffield United on Saturday.

"Andre's turned his ankle so we're going to have a scan later on this week but yeah there's no chance he will play on Tuesday," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.

"We'll just wait and see what the scan says, he has I think started every single game that we've had this year apart from the one where he was suspended.

"Naturally when you have a player that important to you, it's a tough one to take.

"Segecic is OK but he'll miss the game Tuesday because of a dead leg that he's picked up, but he's ok and should be back for Saturday - it's a bit more promising there."

Portsmouth are currently 21st in the Championship table, one point above the bottom three, but with two games in hand on the teams around them.

Tom Chappell
Portsmouth fan writer from Fournilwrittenalloverit

Image source, Rex Features

Being the better side in a game you go onto lose is a bad trait to have and sadly that's exactly what happened to Portsmouth on Saturday afternoon.

A point against Sheffield United would've felt like an unjust outcome, let alone suffering defeat in the 90th minute against opposition who created very little all game - it took me a while to come to terms with the fashion in which we lost.

But their inability to convert at the other end and make their opportunities count means Pompey only have themselves to blame for Saturday's sickener.

We will know in May, and hindsight is a wonderful thing, but the decision not to recruit any out and out number 9 competition in January looks more peculiar as the games go on.

I, like the majority inside Fratton Park, was infuriated at some of referee's decisions, particularly the denial of a goal for a foul only he seemed to spot, but this didn't affect the full-time result whatsoever.

The result fitted an alarming pattern of failure to put games to bed and paying the price for not doing so.

Pompey have a massive week of away days ahead of us in which at least one of the games has to be one we win.

Both on Saturday afternoon and against Preston the week before, we've been comfortable, looked dominant, but lacked quality.

As a result of that, one lapse in concentration lost us both games.

That's 30 games played, 16 to go and three of the nine away fall within the next week to 10 days.

It's about to get busy and Pompey need points fast.

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Charlton Athletic host Portsmouth in a crucial match-up at the bottom end of the table on Tuesday (19:45 GMT) after the original game had to be abandoned earlier in the season.

The Addicks will aim to build on their impressive 1-0 win over Stoke City last time out as Nathan Jones' side tries to continue to trend upwards.

Pompey hope to bounce back after 1-0 defeats by Sheffield United and Preston North End. A win over Charlton would take them to 19th and four points clear of the relegation zone with a game in hand.

• Having won six of their eight home Football League games against Portsmouth between March 1995 and April 2006 (D2), Charlton Athletic have since won just two of their last seven against them at the Valley (D2 L3).

• Following their 2-1 win in December, Portsmouth are looking to complete the league double over Charlton for the first time since 1985-86.

• Charlton have kept a clean sheet in each of their last three league games. They last had a longer run without conceding in October 2020 (six games), while in the Championship their last longer run was November 2013 (four games).

• Portsmouth have won just two of their 14 Championship away games this season (D5 L7), with both of those being 1-0 wins against the current bottom two sides (Oxford in August, Sheffield Wednesday in January).

• Charlton's Matty Godden has scored in all five of his Football League appearances against Portsmouth, though he hasn't faced them since February 2020 while at Coventry.

Image source, BBC Sport

Andrew Moon
BBC Radio Solent's Portsmouth commentator

Image source, Rex Features

For the second game in a row, Portsmouth put in a creditable performance but got nothing for it.

In the first half they were much the better side but couldn't take advantage of a plethora of chances. A draw would have been an okay result, but that was thrown away by conceding a poor late goal.

This Pompey side is comfortably better than the one that ended 2025, but the lack of goals remains a big issue.

It feels like a week can't go by without further Pompey injuries. Conor Chaplin could miss the next four matches, although John Swift deputised with possibly his best showing of the season.

Aji Alese was always a risk to sign, given his injury record. A torn quad means it's a risk that has failed to pay off.

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho spoke to BBC Radio Solent after Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Sheffield United.

"Any loss is difficult to take, but the nature of the goal conceded and the way the game panned out makes it really difficult," he said.

"The games where you come away and know you are not the better side, there are concerns when that happens and you can think 'we weren't at it today or not good enough'. But I thought we were the better side today and should have won the game.

"The opportunities that were created and some of chances we carved out were excellent, but we didn't show enough composure and ruthlessness in those moments."

"For a very dominant first-half display, we didn't come in with a goal. That's fine it happens, but it was about building on that in the second half and we probably didn't do that until the last 25 minutes when we settled into the game again and had a few opportunities.

"But ultimately we got caught in the end."