Preview: Fleetwood Town vs. Portsmouth - prediction, team news, lineups

Fleetwood Town will attempt to end their 12-game winless league run when they welcome Portsmouth to Highbury Stadium on Saturday.

Pompey, who currently lead the League One table, will be looking to return to winning ways after suffering consecutive defeats.

Match preview

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Charlie Adam is still searching for his first win in football management after beginning his Fleetwood tenure with three straight defeats.

Fleetwood looked set to take a point off Cambridge United in their most recent outing when Promise Omochere scored a 77th-minute equaliser, but they were ultimately dealt a sucker punch as Sully Kaikai scored a stoppage-time winner to condemn the Cod Army to a 2-1 loss.

The result represented a fourth consecutive defeat, while it also extended Fleetwood's winless run to 12 matches (D2, L10).

After mustering 18 points from their 26 league matches, the Cod Army are propping up the League One table with eight points separating them from safety.

Having conceded 47 league goals, the basement side currently has the worst defensive record in the division, and their habit of leaking goals needs to be resolved quickly if they are to extend their 10-year stay in the third tier.

Meanwhile, Portsmouth's promotion push has lost significant momentum in recent weeks, with their last six league matches producing one win, two draws and three defeats.

After taking just two points from their final three league games of 2023, Pompey looked to have turned a corner when they edged out Stevenage via a 2-1 scoreline on New Year's Day.

However, rather than build upon that result, John Mousinho's side have gone on to lose 2-1 to Cheltenham Town and 3-0 in last weekend's home clash with Leyton Orient.

As a result of that heavy defeat, Pompey are now just one point clear of Peterborough United and Derby County, who both have a game in hand over the league leaders.

Although they were held to a 1-1 draw by Fleetwood in December's reverse fixture, Portsmouth will be confident about their chances of claiming all three points on Saturday, having won each of their last three away games against the Cod Army.

Team News

January addition Harry Boyes will retain his place in the Fleetwood side after the Wycombe Wanderers loanee made his debut in the defeat to Cambridge.

Boyes could be joined in the starting lineup by Omochere, who came off the bench to score his second goal of the season last weekend.

Carl Johnston and Danny Mayor returned from injury to feature in the matchday squad against the U's, and the pair are expected to remain among the substitutes for Saturday's contest.

As for the visitors, they are expected to be without Regan Poole, Zach Swanson, Conor Ogilvie, Alex Robertson and Tino Anjorin.

In addition to several injury absentees, Pompey are unable to call upon forward Kusini Yengi, who is currently with Australia at the Asian Cup in Qatar.

Midfielder Tom Lowery is in contention to start after coming off the bench against Leyton Orient to make his first appearance since recovering from injury.

Fleetwood Town possible starting lineup: Lynch; Wiredu, Heneghan, Earl; Rooney, Lawal, Dolan, Boyes; Vela, Omochere, Stockley

Portsmouth possible starting lineup: Norris; Rafferty, Raggett, Shaughnessy, Sparkes; Morrell, Pack; Kamara, Lowery, Lane; Bishop

We say: Fleetwood Town 1-2 Portsmouth

Although Pompey may be experiencing a poor run of form, we still believe that they will do enough to beat the league's basement side, especially as they have won their last three away games against Fleetwood.

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