Portsmouth travel to Accrington Stanley tomorrow in the need of a response after they have suffered two heavy defeats in a row to pile the pressure on Danny Cowley.

Cowley would have been expecting a reaction from his players from their 4-1 defeat at Rotherham United last weekend when they travelled to Ipswich Town in mid-week.

However, what happened instead was Portsmouth delivered a disjointed and unorganised display that saw them well beaten 4-0 by the Tractor Boys.

The result at Portman Road means that Portsmouth have now suffered three defeats in their last four matches in League One, while they have also managed to claim just one win in their last ten matches in the third tier.

That kind of form is not acceptable for Pompey who have enough quality in their squad to be performing far better.

A trip to Accrington is going to be a major test for Cowley’s squad and it could potentially prove to be a pivotal match in the context of their campaign.

A victory could help to be the springboard to improved performances and results, that has to be the hope at least.

With all that in mind, we take a look at the XI Cowley could name for Portsmouth at Accrington tomorrow…

Usually, when a side is as well beaten in front of their own supporters as Portsmouth were in mid-week against Ipswich, it would be expected that a number of changes could be made to the starting line-up in the next game.

However, Cowley has largely this season decided to stick with a core group of players.

That comes with nine of the 11 that started against Ipswich having made double figures in terms of starts in the league so far.

 

 

That lack of trust in Portsmouth’s squad players could suggest that Cowley might once again only make slight tweaks to the line-up for the trip to Accrington Stanley.

Gavin Bazunu should maintain his place in goal for Portsmouth but he will need to try and do a little better than he was able to do against Ipswich.

The back three could see Connor Ogilvie come back into after Cowley revealed that he could potentially come back into the starting line-up in his post-match press conference.

In the absence of Clark Robertson and Paul Downing, both Sean Raggett and Kieron Freeman could keep their places.

Ryan Tunnicliffe and Joe Morrell should also keep their places in the side in the middle of the park.

Although Shaun Williams could push for a place in that position if he moves out of the back three to accommodate for Ogilvie’s potential return.

In the wing-back positions, Mahlon Romeo is established as Portsmouth’s first choice right-wing-back and he will be expected to keep his place in the side for the trip to Accrington.

While Lee Brown will also be expected to remain in the side as well down the left-hand side.

The front three could well see a change with the potential for Marcus Harness potentially able to be replaced by Reeco Hackett-Fairchild, if Cowley wants to mix things up.

George Hirst is an option to potentially come into the side to replace John Marquis as he did in the second period against Ipswich, but it could be that Cowley goes with both Marquis and Ronan Curtis from the start once again.