Millwall ace Jed Wallace offers his Portsmouth verdict and pinpoints the two players who can turn Blues' fortunes around

The ex-Fratton favourite said both attackers currently aren’t playing well enough as Danny Cowley’s side sit 17th in the League One table.

But he’s firmly of the opinion that the duo have the necessary quality in the final third to turn the club’s fortunes around – all they have to do is up their goal return.

Pompey’s loss to Ipswich in midweek was their sixth in the third tier this season and their eighth in 11 outings, piling the pressure on Cowley and his players.

Millwall forward Wallace, who scored 30 goals in 121 Blues appearances and is currently on five for this season at The Den, knows injuries at the back haven’t helped matters.

He remains good friends with former Lions team-mate Shaun Willams, who has been asked to fill in there following the recent thigh injury picked up by Clark Roberston.

Paul Downing is also out injured, while Connor Ogilvie has just returned from a period on the sidelines.

But in-demand Wallace admits injuries cannot be used as an excuse.

Instead, he believes the players have to find it within themselves to help turn things around.

And he believes ‘top players’ Curtis and Marquis are more than capable of firing the Pompey out of their problems.

Speaking about Pompey on the Totally Football League Show, the 27-year-old said: ‘It’s a club close to my heart, a club that I’ve got a lot of good friends with.

‘Shaun Williams is one of my best friends and is still playing there now so I’m still very in touch with it.

‘Talking of losses, it (the Ipswich defeat) was a bad one. Ipswich are getting bit of momentum, but Portsmouth are struggling.

‘Chopping and changing between a back four and a back three, they’ve had a lot of injuries there.

‘The loss of (Jack) Whatmough in the summer – for him then to go to Wigan and probably looks the most outstanding centre-half in the division so far.

‘They brought in (Clark) Robertson and he’s out for 12 weeks, so they’ve certainly been hit with injuries, so much so that Shaun Williams has dropped back into a back three. I think they’ve only got one fit centre-half.

‘It’s always difficult to judge managers when they’ve had the injuries they’ve had, but also on the flip side, a lot of responsibility always falls to the players.

‘I think John Marquis, who is another good friend of mine, and Ronan Curtis aren’t playing as well as they can, and at that level, they are top, top players.

‘Portsmouth are going to start winning games, they’re going to need the likes of Ronan and John, who have proved time and time again what good players they are, to start scoring a few more goals.’

Heading into tomorrow’s game at Accrington, Curtis has two league goals to his name this season, while Marquis has three.

Marquis ended an eight-game wait for a goal by bagging a double in the 4-0 win against Sunderland, but hasn’t scored since.

Meanwhile, Curtis’ hasn’t netted since the 2-2 draw at Charlton.