At one stage in late 2018, there only looked to be one winner of League One. Portsmouth were running away with it, appearing almost invincible.

Sunderland had a chance to close the gap just before Christmas, but they went down 3-1 at Fratton Park. That left Pompey eight points clear of the Black Cats, four clear of Luton and a whopping 12 clear of Barnsley.

Kenny Jackett wouldn't have allowed complacency, but having seen his side win comfortably against the Black Cats he will surely have afforded himself a wry smile. Pompey were excellent that night, albeit against ten men.

Since then, they have struggled. They've shown the sort of form a side battling relegation might experience and last night a side in that predicament took a 1-1 draw from Fratton Park. There was little to choose between the promotion hopefuls and those fearing a drop into League Two.

They've failed to win in League One since the opening day of 2019, amassing four draws and three defeats. With four points from a possible 21 they have worse current form than Wimbledon, rock bottom of the division.

Kenny Jackett must now be a worried man. Whilst those around him strengthened, he's been unable to add significant talent to his squad. Omar Bogle, his big January signing, hasn't impressed.

Whilst Will Grigg gets off the mark for Sunderland and George Moncur tears up the midfield at Kenilworth Road, Jackett laments the loss of Andre Green and David Wheeler.

He's got a problem this morning, one that there's no clear solution to. His side are not just out of form, they've experienced a complete collapse. They're five points outside the top two now, but only nine clear of the last play-off spot.

Pompey are in freefall and Jackett must be concerned at yet another season of promise grinding to a halt. They were on the fringes of a play-off place last season before falling away, but this collapse is more severe.

This collapse has the hallmarks of a crisis.

His big players, Ronan Curtis and Jamal Lowe, have struggled to impress themselves on teams. Brett Pitman, last year's talisman, can't get a game whilst Bogle and Oliver Hawkins fail to shine in his place. With a huge game coming up against Barnsley, Jackett's side are in a rut.

Unless something significant changes this week, they'll struggle against Daniel Stendel's side and maybe Jackett might start to be a little concerned about his long term future.