Buoyant Portsmouth poised to break 13-year attendance record as Fratton Park embraces feel-good factor against Reading

Pompey are poised to record a 20,000-plus attendance for the first time in more than 13 years.

Crisis-hit Reading remarkable sold out their 2,000 allocation within four days ahead of Saturday’s visit to Fratton Park.

That healthy away following, plus the remodelled Milton End, has put the Blues on track for potentially their biggest home crowd since January 2011.

There were 20,040 present for that Championship encounter with Leeds United, which finished 2-2 through goals from Joel Ward and John Utaka.

At the time, Steve Cotterill’s men had gone six matches without victory and had recently been dumped out of the FA Cup’s third round by League One Brighton.

Nonetheless, that Fratton Park attendance remains unsurpassed to the present day.

Pompey's largest crowd since then was last month’s 3-0 home defeat to Leyton Orient, with 19,477 present.

That number contained 1,197 away supporters - and Reading’s visit will comfortably eclipse that tally in terms of travelling fans.

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Charlton have provided the biggest away following so far this season, with 2,147 at Fratton Park in a crowd of 19,404 for November’s 2-2 draw.

Although, encouragingly, Tuesday night’s 3-1 triumph over Cambridge United attracted 19,445, of which just 305 were away followers.

With the final phase of Fratton Park’s £12m redevelopment project now complete, the re-built Milton End has the potential to house 3,115 supporters.

As a result, it's estimated the ground holds almost 21,000. However, when segregation is required in that end, in reality it is beyond 20,000.

As with the Cambridge fixture, a large number of home fans will also be accommodated in the Milton End on Saturday, significantly bolstering the attendance.

It adds up to the possibility of Fratton Park smashing the 20,000 barrier for the first time in more than 13 years.

And should it even manage to exceed 20,040, then it's entering Premier League 2009-10 territory - when Arsenal (20,404), Manchester United (20,482) and Liverpool (20,534) visited Fratton Park.