Honest Portsmouth skipper Clark Robertson admits Blues failings which fall short of expectations

Since winning promotion to League One in 2017, the Fratton Park outfit have qualified for the play-offs twice, without contesting the final, as they continue to wait on a return to the Championship.

They narrowly missed out on a top-six finish last season following the March sacking of Kenny Jackett, while their first campaign back in the third tier resulted in an eighth-placed finish.

Now, following Saturday’s stalemate with Wycombe and the midweek defeat at Plymouth, Pompey’s chances of promotion this term look increasingly thin – extending their stay in League One for a fourth campiagn.

Indeed, Danny Cowley’s side are currently sitting 10th in the table on 59 points – eight points adrift of the top-six and with just eight games of their season remaining.

For Robertson, that situation isn’t good enough for a clubof Pompey’s stature and history.

Yet, despite the odds stacking up against him and his team-mates, he’s not giving up hope of sneaking into the play-off positions and making the Fratton faithful proud.

Robertson told The News: ‘Collectively, as a team, I think a club like Pompey should be pushing for the play-offs every season.

‘In these last eight games we need to be pushing up that table.

‘We all know it’s a squad game and we do have quality within the squad. So whoever comes in, we know they’re capable of producing performances.

‘It keeps everyone on their toes as well. We need to stick together and try and push up the table in the last eight games.’

Shortly after signing from Rotherham in the summer on a free transfer, Robertson was handed the captaincy by Danny Cowley.

The centre-back started the first six league games of the season, before suffering an injury in training which kept him on the sidelines until January.

Due to his prolonged spell in the treatment room, the Scotsman revealed he’s been disappointed with his first season at Fratton Park.

He added: ‘For me, personally, it’s been an up and down time so far.

‘I thought I started the season alright. We started the season well and then I got a bad injury and it’s taken me a bit of time to get back into my rhythm.

‘I’m probably not still at my best but, hopefully, in these coming weeks I can start to push on again.’

Message From the Editor

You can support our local team of expert Pompey writers by subscribing here for all the latest news from Fratton Park for less than 25p per week.