Former Portsmouth favourite's score prediction ahead of Derby game as he makes 'we've turned the corner' claim

And the former Blues keeper thinks John Mousinho’s side will maintain their current momentum with victory at Derby County this evening.

Pompey head to Pride Park on the back of a four-match unbeaten run that has seen them move out of the bottom three for the first time since mid-September. Improved performances - kickstarted by that second-half showing at Hull on November 2 - have been the bedrock of that encouraging form and have given the Fratton faithful renewed hope after some forgettable early-season moments.

That includes home humblings at the hands of West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday and some utterly awful away days at the likes of Stoke and Cardiff, which, frankly, had some sections of the fans fearing an automatic return to League One football.

Of course, that still remains a possibility for the 21st-placed Blues, who still have 28 Championship fixtures to contest.

However, former Pompey favourite James is confident that won’t be the case. He thinks the tide has already turned at Fratton Park and has even been shopping online for Pompey memorabilia in order to celebrate another promotion party at the end of the season (we think he was only joking, though, when he claims promotion is a possibility! We’ll let you decide).

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Asked for a prediction ahead of tonight’s game at Derby (8pm kick-off), the Blues FA Cup winner said: ‘Well, I mean, Derby lost at the weekend, didn't they? And the mighty Pompey won.

‘They're on the road to recovery. How many games left in the season? We (Portsmouth) can still get a promotion.

‘I've got a friend who's a Derby fan and I've told him I'm going to wear a Portsmouth shirt. I've got a black and red old-school Portsmouth shirt that I got off the internet.

‘I'm going to go 2-1 Portsmouth. When you talk about turning the corner, we've turned the corner, and yeah Pompey are going up!’

Victory for Pompey at Pride Park would see them climb just one place to 20th in the Championship standings with 20 points. A draw would also be good enough to see them leap above Oxford.

Derby, 17th with 21 points, are without a win in six games, Their last victory dates back to November 6 against Coventry (away). The Rams’ last home win was against QPR on October 10.