'Anything is possible' - Ex-Portsmouth star provides his recipe for success ahead of Championship return

Former Pompey and England right-back Glen Johnson has revealed how he thinks the Blues will fare in next season’s Championship campaign and his answer is will provide some encouragement to the Fratton Park fanbase.

Johnson - who first joined Pompey on a season-long loan in June 2006 before signing permanently in August 2007 - is confident of the club’s Championship successes but identifies one aspect of the game in which they must improve upon.

The ex-right-back helped the club to reach, and subsequently win, the 2008 FA Cup and in April 2009, at the age of 24, Johnson was the youngest member of The Times ‘Top 50 Portsmouth Players’. He would go on to make 99 appearances for the club before heading to Anfield in June 2009 to join Liverpool.

The ex-Blues defender has now spoken to Betfred on how he believes his former side will cope in the Championship following their emphatic League One season. While the former Liverpool star is full of hope as to how John Mousinho’s squad will manage in England’s second-tier, Johnson notes that the side must remain organised if they are to be better than ‘half the teams’ in the league. “To be honest, I think they’ve got a chance” Johnson confirmed when asked how he thought his former team would progress. “In terms of that league, you’ve only got to be organised and you’re already better than half the teams, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they end up finishing in the top half.

“If they get a few more players and signings in during the summer then that can help them kick on, so you never know. I think when you come up like that, the players are going to be on cloud nine and as long as you’re organised, you’re going to be better than half of the teams already.” The 54-time England international was also asked whether he believed it possible for Pompey to reach next season’s Championship play-offs to which he replied: “Yes, it definitely wouldn’t surprise me. It’s a big club and as long as the players believe in what the manager is trying to do and they’re able to kick on and raise the bar a bit, then absolutely. It’s season one for them.

“If they finish in the top half, then I think they’ll take that, but there’s not a lot between finishing in the top half and getting into the play-offs. I think anything is possible, they just need a few more better players in the squad and to be organised.”