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Gareth Ainsworth believes Pompey are one of the teams that will be ‘right up there’ challenging for promotion at the end of the season.

And he believes the Blues’ fan base will have a huge part to play in that as he claimed the big crowds ‘make a difference’.

Ainsworth name-dropped Pompey after witnessing his Chairboys side suffer a 3-1 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

He admitted the atmosphere at the Owls’ home proved intimidating for his troops, with Wycombe’s plight not helped either by the players on show for the hosts.

A crowd of 22,123 were on hand to see Darren Moore’s side pick up their third home win of the season and move up to third in the League One table – a point behind the Blues, who have a game in hand.

Ainsworth believes Wednesday’s pulling power – both on and off the pitch – rightly makes them one of the favourites for the three promotion places to the Championship this season.

However, he thinks Pompey, Ipswich, Charlton and Bolton are also in the running this term and will provide ‘big competition’ for exactly the same reason.

SEE HERE: How Portsmouth’s remarkable Fratton Park average attendance compares to Derby, Ipswich, Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday & Co

A crowd of 19,009 saw Pompey's 2-2 draw with Plymouth at Fratton Park last weekend

Speaking to bucksfreepress.co.uk, Ainsworth said: ‘We had some good chances and we created as many chances as any team will probably get here as this is an unbelievable place to come.

‘It’s intimidating, they are a huge club with some fantastic players and Darren Moore has recruited really well.

‘I am not trying to take anything away from Sheffield, but when we get our moments, we need to make them count...

‘I also think they will be right up there.

‘They will get out of this league, but they have got big competition in Ipswich, Portsmouth, Charlton, Bolton to name a few – teams that get around 20,000 crowds a week.

‘That makes a big difference.’

Sheffield Wednesday are averaging a home crowd of 24,651 this season – a figure helped by the 26,901 spectators who witnessed their season-opening 3-3 draw with Pompey.

That’s just slightly more than league leaders’ Ipswich’s mean for the campaign to date (24,235), but significantly less than 11th-placed Derby, who are averaging attendances of 27,109 this season – the highest in the division.

Sixth-placed Bolton are attracting crowds of 18,563 this term, while Pompey’s average attendance to date at Fratton Park stands at 18,315.

A total of 19,009 fans witnessed their 2-2 draw with Plymouth last week.

Finally, Charlton, who are currently 16th in the table, have a Valley average of 10,523 so far this campaign and have a lot to do to match Ainsworth’s expectations of them this term.

Why Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth name-dropped and predicted big things for Portsmouth, Ipswich, Charlton and Bolton when giving his verdict on Sheffield Wednesday defeat