EFL confirm official decision for Portsmouth vs Cardiff City Championship clash

The officiating team for the the Blues’ all important meeting with the Bluebirds on Tuesday evening has been confirmed with Tom Nield taking charge of his second Pompey game this season.

As the likes of Cardiff City and Stoke City played in the FA Cup, Pompey played Sheffield United in the Championship and despite a brave performance, they left Bramall Lane empty handed. Cardiff had to play an extra 30 minutes as their tie against the Potters went to extra time, and so Pompey will be hoping that their players will be feeling fatigued for their midweek clash.

The two sides met in South Wales back in October and the hosts ran out 2-0 winners with Regan Poole scoring an own goal and then Callum Robinson doubled their advantage. It's pretty tight between the two teams in the table with Cardiff ahead of them by just a point. A win for Pompey would see them overtake Cardiff and potentially Stoke.

Pompey v Cardiff City referee confirmed

Nield hails from West Yorkshire and this season he has overseen 23 mathes. In those games, he has brandished 95 yellow cards and one red, whilst awaiting two penalties, one of which was against Pompey with Will Norris fouling Tom Cannon in the 6-1 defeat to the Potters back in October.

Mark Dwyer and Greg Read will support the referee as linesmen whilst Andy Davies is the fourth official. This will be the third time that Nield has overseen a Cardiff match with a record of one draw and one defeat when officiating them. He was in charge of their 5-3 defeat to Pompey’s fierce rivals Southampton back in August, as well as the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough at the start of January.

Nield’s most recent game was West Brom’s 2-1 win against Sheffield Wednesday and he sent a player off after the final whistle had sounded. Kyle Bartley was shown a straight red card after tempers flared at the full-time whistle.

Pompey v Cardiff City team news

Paddy Lane, Jacob Farrell and Ibane Bowat will play no part with the trio being ruled out for the rest of the season. Bowat has yet to make his debut after suffering an injury in training whilst Farrell's only made one appearance.

There was no place on the bench for Mark O'Mahony against Sheffield United but that's because there was already five players named in the match-day squad. Jordan Williams, Kusini Yengi and Regan Poole are all ruled out.

Jesper Daland came on at half-time on Saturday but later conceded a penalty and in the process he suffered an injury, making him doubtful for the trip down to the South Coast. Cardiff are awaiting scan results of an injury to winger Ollie Tanner which has kept him out of the last four matches.

Wales captain Aaron Ramsey returned sooner than expected and played an hour on Saturday having been injured since September. David Turnbull has a hamstring injury which required surgery and he isn’t expected to come back until March or April. Yakou Meite didn’t make the trip to Stoke, and so like Daland he is doubtful.

Isaak Davies hasn’t made a first-team appearance this season because of a hamstring injury and it’s unlikely he will play on Tuesday with Cardiff hoping to phase him back in to playing by featuring him for the under-21s. Youngster Ronan Kpakio who has made a handful of appearances is out for several months after damaging a ligament in his leg.