Jed Wallace believes that injuries haven't helped Danny Cowley's cause at Portsmouth after a tough run of late.

Portsmouth have endured a tough start to the season, and sit 17th in League One having won only four of their first 13 games so far.

Pompey have only won one of their last 10 games, too, and were thumped 4-0 at home to Ipswich Town in midweek.

The pressure is starting to build on Danny Cowley after such a heavy home defeat, with Pompey now conceding eight goals in their last two games.

Jed Wallace, who came through the ranks at Portsmouth and made 121 appearances before leaving the club in 2015, took time to reflect on their recent slump of late.

Speaking on the Totally Football League Show, the Millwall midfielder said: "It's a club close to my heart, a club that I've got a lot of good friends with. Shaun Williams is one of my best friends and is still playing there now so I'm still very in touch with it.

"Talking of losses, it was a bad one. Ipswich are getting bit of momentum, but Portsmouth are struggling. Chopping and changing between a back four and a back three, they've had a lot of injuries there.

"The loss of (Jack) Whatmough in the summer for him then to go to Wigan and probably looks the most outstanding centre-half in the division so far.

"They brought in (Clark) Robertson and he's out for 12 weeks, so they've certainly been hit with injuries, so much so that Shaun Williams has dropped back into a back three. I think they've only got one fit centre-half.

"It's always difficult to judge managers when they've had the injuries they've had, but also on the flip side, a lot of responsibility always falls to the players.

"I think John Marquis, who is another good friend of mine, and Ronan Curtis aren't playing as well as they can, and at that level, they are top, top players.

"Portsmouth are going to start winning games, they're going to need the likes of Ronan and John, who have proved time and time again what good players they are, to start scoring a few more goals."

The Verdict

I think Wallace is right to some extent, and Cowley's decision to switch between a back three and back four has probably been inflicted by the injuries they've had.

But they still have some decent players and you do feel as if Cowley should be getting more out of his group of players.

They need to turn things around before the ice cracks for Cowley.