Portsmouth boss outlines final-day mindset and role Oxford United and Charlton Athletic will have to play in it

Danny Cowley has laid down his blueprint to final-day Pompey success.
Danny CowleyDanny Cowley
Danny Cowley

And the Blues head coach explained that includes staying abreast of Charlton and Oxford’s scores as they aim to secure the final League One play-off spot.

Pompey going into tomorrow’s high-noon clash with Accrington knowing a win will guarantee them a top-six finish this season.

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With their fate in their hands, Cowley expects three points to be the minimum requirement to achieve success as Charlton welcome champions Hull City to the Valley, while Oxford entertain Burton Albion.

But that won’t stop the 42-year-old being aware of what is happening elsewhere on what could prove to be a dramatic afternoon.

Cowley said: ‘When you get to this stage of the season it would be incredibly naive to not be aware of the other scores, because they can affect your thinking.

‘But ultimately, we’ve got to win.

‘There’s two other teams, one of them is going to win, I’m 99.9 per cent sure of that.

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‘The great thing for us and the thing we’ve got over other teams is it’s on our terms.

‘We don’t really have to think about anything else other than performing at our best.’

After four wins on the spin after coming into the Pompey job, the Cowleys saw a downturn in results which put a top-six finish in doubt.

The most significant dropped points undoubtedly came at Accrington last week, however, where John Marquis scored in stoppage time before putting the ball into his own net in the 3-3 draw.

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Cowley noted how a win there would have still seen Pompey needing to get a draw in the Sky-televised clash to be assured of reaching the play-offs.

Cowley added: ‘It’s really clear.

‘If we’d held out and beat Accrington we’d have still needed a point.

‘I’m not sure that would have made it any easier.

‘We know what we have to do - so let’s go and do it.’

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