2019: The year Fortress Fratton returned to Portsmouth once again

The stats show that 2019 has seen the Blues’ home return to its near-impenetrable best - with just two defeats arriving in league action in the calendar year to date.

Blackpool’s 1-0 victory back in January and the costly 3-2 reverse against Peterborough in April remain the only League One losses on home soil as we head towards the final month of the year.

After Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Rotherham, the impressive run now spans a period of 21 fixtures with Kenny Jackett’s men unbeaten at PO4 in the 2018-19 season.

Home supporters have seen 19 points harvested from the nine League One games there so far - with five wins and four draws the return for the Blues.

It was the same points return from the 11 League One games that took place this year from the 2018-19 campaign.

That came from five wins and four draws, while there was also the 0-0 play-off second-leg draw with Sunderland which saw the season end in disappointment.

The biggest win in that time came back in March as Bradford were dispatched with an emphatic 5-1 win, with two goals coming from Ben Close along with efforts from Tom Naylor, Jamal Lowe and a Gareth Evans penalty.

Factoring in other competitions, there’s been an additional five fixtures played at Fratton this year.

Pompey’s record is also favourable there, with three wins, a draw and the single loss, of course, being the 4-0 reverse to rivals Southampton in the Carabao Cup in September.

The EFL Trophy delivered a 1-0 victory over Peterborough in January while there has been successes over Crawley (1-0) and Norwich under-21s (3-1) this season.

The FA Cup saw Pompey graft to a 1-1 draw to Championship QPR before bowing out at Loftus Road in the fourth-round replay.

Jackett’s side will be looking to protect their strong record at Fratton Park in the coming weeks with five home games to come before the end of the year.

Altrincham visit in the FA Cup second round this weekend before the arrival of Northampton in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.

There are some tough league games remaining in 2019, however, with Peterborough, Ipswich and leaders Wycombe all still to arrive at Fratton.

But perhaps those pundits who’ve been saying Pompey are better suited to playing on the road could be a little wide of the mark…