Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore has praised his counterpart Danny Cowley for the job he has done over the last few weeks to turn around Portsmouth’s form.

Cowley had been a manager under real pressure at Fratton Park a few weeks ago with Portsmouth struggling for consistency and falling bellow the sort of standards that are expected from them in League One. That had seen Pompey win just five of their opening 16 league games of the campaign to leave them adrift of the top six. 

However, Portsmouth have now managed to claim four successive wins in League One to rocket back up the table. They are now sat in 9th place just a point behind Sheffield Wednesday and two adrift of the play-off places. That comes following impressive performances in recent wins against Wycombe Wanders, AFC Wimbledon, Lincoln City and Gillingham.

Heading into their clash with Sheffield Wednesday though Cowley’s side did suffer a shock defeat at home to League Two Harrogate Town in the FA Cup. That result will be a reminder that they have to maintain their recent standards and performance levels if they are to keep their League One winning run going.

 

 

Speaking to Yorkshire Live ahead of Sheffield Wednesday’s clash with Portsmouth, Moore has praised Cowley for getting his side going in terms of their performances. He also insisted that it will be a tough battle between two in-form sides in the third tier. 

He said: "They have done superb. Portsmouth have really turned a corner over the last four or five weeks with their performances.

"We have got two teams bang in form in the division.

"Portsmouth have tightened up and are scoring goals. They are playing some aggressive football.

"We have shown a resilience to ourselves in the league and we are looking to continue our momentum in the league programme. We know it will be a tough game and we will have to be at our best.

"Both teams have shown a solidity and resilience in the league. We are harder to beat and getting positive results."

The verdict 

Moore will be able to empathise with Cowley somewhat this season because he has also come under fire at times for some of Sheffield Wednesday’s results and performances. 

However, it seems that both clubs could now finally be hitting their strides and putting themselves in a position to make the top-six which is what was expected of them when the campaign began.

It could be that only one of these two big clubs at League One level make it into the top-six this season such is the level of competition for those spots. So, this meeting might well prove to be a pivotal one in terms of where they both end up come the end of the campaign. 

Cowley does deserve the credit he gets from Moore here and he is a good manager that always seemed like he could turn things around at Fratton Park if given time. 

Injuries were holding Pompey back, but now they appear to be in a much better shape and them and the Owls are teams to watch out for in the second half of the campaign.