Middlesbrough will face Championship strugglers Portsmouth at the Riverside Stadium this weekend.
Portsmouth will make the long trip to Middlesbrough with the aim of boosting their bid to avoid relegation from the Championship and hamper their hosts’ attempts to secure promotion into the Premier League.
John Mousinho’s men just one point and one place above the relegation zone after they recovered from a recent 6-1 hammering at the hands of Queens Park Rangers by collecting a share of the spoils in Bank Holiday weekend clashes with Norwich City and fellow strugglers Oxford United. The latter of those games could be viewed as a missed opportunity as Pompey took an early lead with a goal from Keshi Anderson before the visitors turned the game on its head as Brodie Spencer and Wil Lankshear found the net after half-time. However, a late equaliser from Andre Dozzell snatched a point for Portsmouth and kept them out of the relegation zone ahead of their trip to the North East.
They will face a sizeable challenge against a Boro side hoping to recover from an underwhelming Bank Holiday weekend after they claimed just a solitary point from a home game with promotion rivals Millwall and a long trip to Swansea City. Those results have left Kim Hellberg’s men in third place in the table ahead of their meeting with Pompey although they could return to an automatic promotion spot if they win on home soil and Ipswich Town and Millwall fail to pick up maximum points from away days at West Bromwich Albion and Norwich.
Pompey boss Mousinho is fully aware of the challenges that face his own side as they look to preserve their Championship status as he described Middlesbrough as ‘an outstanding team’ ahead of Saturday’s visit to the Riverside.
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Speaking ahead of the trip to Teesside, Mousinho told the club’s official website: The Blues boss said: “We’ve got to face the best sides in the league, as well as one of our relegation rivals in Leicester. If we win three of our final six matches then it’s probably enough, but we’re not just focusing on those clubs nearer to us. Our form this season doesn’t necessarily follow the league table – such as beating Middlesbrough and Millwall.
“I genuinely think that anyone can beat anyone in this division and we just have to approach Saturday’s game in a positive manner. Middlesbrough are an outstanding team and have been right up there for the majority of the season, although results haven’t gone the way they would have liked in the past few weeks. Our form this season doesn’t necessarily follow the league table – such as beating Middlesbrough and Millwall. But they’ve probably come away from a lot of those games feeling pretty unlucky not to get the wins their performances deserve. There’s a different kind of pressure for both teams and we have to go there and try to execute our gameplan.”
Mousinho also confirmed Zak Swanson, Josh Murphy and Ebou Adams will miss the game through injury - but Josh Knight and Thomas Waddingham are expected to return to contention.
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