Mowatt: High-flying Barnsley coming to Portsmouth to win

Instead, the Tykes midfielder believes his side will be handed the remit to inflict a killer blow on the Blues’ automatic promotion hopes.

Barnsley currently sit second in the table – five points clear of Kenny Jackett’s troops, who sit fourth, and four clear of Sunderland (third).

They have put themselves in the driving seat for a top-two finish with a 13-match unbeaten run in the league.

Daniel Stendel’s side have also leapfrogged Pompey in the standings thanks to six wins in the division since the turn of the year.

In that timeframe, the Blues have only recorded one win, with Tuesday’s 1-1 draw against Bristol Rovers their seventh league game without maximum points.

Mowatt believes those statistics give Barnsley a lot of belief going into the game.

And with that in mind, they’ll have the mentality to really put Pompey to the sword.

Speaking to Barnsley’s website, he said: ‘I think the team are massively confident in every game that we play at the moment.

‘We’ve gone on a great run, so why would we not be confident?

‘We’re confident in every game and we’re in the top two, so we want to keep pushing on.

‘The gaffer’s mentality is to win every single game and he doesn’t want to sit back on a 1-0 either – he wants to go 2-0, 3-0.

‘With his mentality, all the lads want to win every game and I think we need to to get out of this division.’

Mowatt acknowledged Pompey may approach the game like a wounded animal following their poor start to 2019.

He also admitted the atmosphere generated on a big match day at Fratton Park could play a role.

But the midfielder, who was sent off on his last visit to PO4 when an Oxford player last March, said he and his team-mates will be up for the challenge.

‘It could be a bad thing – them wanting to bounce back,’ he added.

‘You could look at it either way, but we know it’ll be difficult there with the crowd, but we’ll be looking to go there and win.

‘We’ve got some really good games coming up and everyone will be buzzing to play in them, so I think it’s a great test for us and, if we get some good results, we could be right up there.’