EFL make official decision ahead of Portsmouth vs Millwall Championship showdown

The EFL have confirmed that Dean Whitestone will be the referee for Portsmouth’s upcoming home game against Millwall at Fratton Park.

Whitestone is a highly experienced referee with more than 19 years and 500 games of experience in England’s top four divisions. He has taken charge of eight Championship matches this season and in that time has handed out 29 yellows without yet producing a red card.

He oversaw Portsmouth’s 1-0 League Cup defeat to Millwall earlier in the season and also took charge of Pompey’s 2-1 loss to Wigan Athletic in a League One clash back in April. Whitestone notably refereed the EFL Trophy final in 2019 at Wembley Stadium as Portsmouth ran out winners against Sunderland after a nail-biting penalty shoot-out. Daniel Leach and George Byrne will both act as linesman during Portsmouth’s match with Millwall while Gavin Ward will be the fourth official for the Championship contest.

Portsmouth return to competitive action for the first time in 18 days following November’s international break and the postponed Blackburn Rovers match at the weekend.

John Mousinho’s side recorded an impressive 3-1 victory in their last Championship clash against Preston and are targeting back-to-back wins in the second tier of English football for the first time since April 2012.

A victory for Portsmouth could see them climb to within one point of safety depending on the outcome of Cardiff City’s home clash with basement side Queens Park Rangers this evening.

Portsmouth’s upcoming opponents

Millwall have had a much improved start to this season after flirting with relegation for large periods last term.

The Lions, under the guidance of Neil Harris, sit eighth in the table and only three points adrift of the play-off places. They are unbeaten in their last eight Championship matches and will enter the fixture high on confidence after an impressive 1-1 draw with promotion hopefuls Sunderland and a 1-0 victory at home to title favourites Leeds United.

Millwall boast the sixth best home record of any team in the Championship but have only managed three points in just one of their opening seven league games this term.

However, the South London side did taste victory on their last trip to Fratton Park during a League Cup contest in August with Romain Esse scoring the only goal of the game for the visitors.

This fixture marks the first league meeting between Portsmouth and Millwall since loanee Harry Kane found the net in a 1-0 victory for the Lions back in April 2012.