Former Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley shows his class with glowing assessment of Blues' promotion chances

The classy former Blues boss once again proved he holds no grudges with the Fratton Park outfit following his January sacking by heaping praise on his one-time employers on the BBC’s Football Daily podcast.

He backed unbeaten Pompey to maintain the momentum that has taken them to the top of the League One table.

Cowley lauded the work that has been done by his successor, John Mousinho, so far – including his ability to keep hold of his best players during the summer transfer window and improve his squad on the back of that key factor.

The former Lincoln and Huddersfield manager also spoke of his admiration of the Fratton faithful, claiming they’ll play a huge part in any success the club enjoys this season.

According to Cowley, everything is in place for the Blues to book a return to the Championship for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

And he sincerely hopes they achieve that goal as he maintains his admiration for Pompey nine months on from his disappointing PO4 departure.

When asked if this could finally be Pompey’s year ahead of Saturday’s win against Lincoln, Cowley said: ‘They’ve had a brilliant start to the season.

‘They had a fantastic week, taking a point at Derby right at the last minute, and then backing that up by going to Barnsley away. 3-0 up after 15 minutes!

‘I look at their squad and I think it’s improved again. I think they’ve been able to keep hold of their best players.

‘This time last year, we lost Marcus Harness who was probably our best player at the time.

‘We did bring Colby Bishop in, but I think if you really want to be successful you really need to improve, you want to keep your best players and you’ve got to add to your best players – and I think they’ve been able to do that this summer.

‘I think they look at team that’s improving by the game and in John Mousinho, they’ve got a young manager, a real intelligent man, who is doing a really, really good job. I see only good things for Portsmouth supporters, which is brilliant, because that is a wonderful football club with an incredible support base.

‘Look at their home attendances, but also look at the numbers that they take away.

‘They took nearly 3,000 to Derby and then nearly 1,000 people to Barnsley on a Tuesday night. Now, living on the south coast as I do, I know how long that journey is and that says everything about the support of the club.

‘If they can keep this momentum up, that support will only grow and grow and they will play a huge part in their success, I sincerely hope that they can find promotion, because it’s a club that deserves it.’

Pompey sit top of the table with 19 points from their nine games played to date. They head to Wigan this weekend with a record of five wins and four draws this season.

The Blues were 12th in the table when Cowley lost his job at Fratton Park following a 3-1 home defeat to Charlton on New Year’s Day.