'Always potential' - Cardiff City's Alex Robertson to face Portsmouth for first time since Fratton Park departure

Former Portsmouth star Alex Robertson is set to come up against the Blues for the first time since he left Fratton Park for Cardiff City in the summer.

John Mousinho’s squad will travel to the Cardiff City Stadium for Tuesday’s evening kick-off and as both sides are currently sitting in the Championship relegation zone, it could be an exceptionally fraught match with the two clubs desperate to secure much needed points.

One player who could be a key figure to determine a result is the ex-Pompey midfielder whose time at Fratton Park ended during the summer transfer window with Manchester City selling him to the Welsh club.

Ahead of Pompey’s away clash in Cardiff on Tuesday, I caught up with NationalWorld Championship expert and Cardiff City fan Jordan Jones to find out how Robertson has fared so far this campaign. When asked what we are to expect from the 21-year-old next week, Jones said: “I think that he can be useful. Where he’s playing now for Cardiff (as a six), he’s trying a sweeper, he’s coming in deeper and he’s doing the gritty things. He can make a tackle but then also carry the ball really far and that’s what Cardiff fans really appreciate.

“You want a team of battlers, you want a team of players to play for the shirt but you also want a bit of quality and I think Robertson is a good mix of that.”

His time at Cardiff did not start overly positively, enjoying only two starts under the now-sacked head coach Erol Bulut. However, since the Turkish head coach’s departure, the Australian international has played every game under interim boss Omer Riza.

“It was strange he wasn’t starting”, Jones continued. “But he’s gradually being phased in and now he’s played every single game under the caretaker manager and, whether he is made permanent or whoever takes over, they’ve got to build the midfield around Robertson.”

One of his finer moments so far this campaign, which pleased both Cardiff City and Pompey fans, came in Cardiff’s 5-3 defeat to Southampton as Robertson produced a remarkable striker to fire home the Welsh side’s third goal. While he is yet to make his goal-scoring mark in the league, it feels as it it may not be too far away with the possibility it could come against Pompey on Tuesday. When asked as to the likelihood of this, Jones remarked: “He took his goal really well against Southampton,

“The team played with a lot of freedom. Robertson takes it first time, really good strike. I don’t remember too many chances that Robertson has had to score because ultimately Cardiff are just really poor in the final third. We’re a team that tend to press it round in the final third but never get that killer edge. There’s always potential for him to be in there because Cardiff are trying to be a bit more productive under their caretaker manager.”

While Robertson has enjoyed several starts in the past few weeks under Riza, his number six competition Manolis Siopis most recently starred for Greece as they historical beat England 2-1 at Wembley. While Siopis continues to be a divisive character amongst the Cardiff City fanbase due to him having been such a key favourite of Bulut’s, there’s no denying that Siopis performing impressively well against the likes of Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham puts Robertson’s spot in the starting XI in doubt.

Of course, the question had to be asked, which relegation contender is set to win Tuesday’s battle? The answer will be music to the Pompey faithful’s ears as Jones was not ready to flatter his team, admitting: “Cardiff don’t tend to score many goals and they don’t tend to keep them out either!

“So I think it will be separated by just the one goal. Maybe 1-0 to Cardiff or 1-1? If Cardiff win it will be by one goal, but if Pompey open the scoring there’s always potential for them to open the floodgates and it could be a two or three nil because that’s how fragile Cardiff’s defence can be at times.