‘Bring it on’: The forceful message from Portsmouth dressing room ahead of huge south-coast derby against Southampton
Pompey make the trip to Southampton this weekend for the first south-coast derby in six years.
Regan Poole is adamant Pompey are ready for this weekend’s south-coast derby against Southampton.
And the popular central defender has called the Saints to ‘bring it on’ as they prepare for hotly-anticipated contest.
John Mousinho’s men make their first trip to St Marys in 13 years on Sunday to once again reignite their bitter rivalry with Will Still’s side.
It’s a first league meeting between the two south-coast clubs since April 2012, with David Norris netting a last-minute equaliser to secure a 2-2 draw.
There is no surprise that excitement and anticipation is building ahead of the Championship contest, with supporters already mocking each other on social media.
With the countdown on, Poole has given an insight into the mood of the Pompey dressing room as they prepare for the hotly-anticipated fixture.
View from Pompey dressing room ahead of huge Southampton contest
He said: ‘I can’t wait. We’ve put ourselves in a really good position and confidence is very high in the group. Bring it on.
‘I’ve been told a lot, the skipper (Marlon Pack) has told us a lot about the game. Obviously it hasn’t happened for a while, it’s really good to have it back.
‘It’s something for the fans to look forward to. They (Pompey fans) have sold it out in seconds like always where it sells out at this club. Really looking forward to it, good break now to reset.
‘We've put ourselves in a great position. This is the difference between this season and last season, I think we’re kind of looking up and quite disappointed really that we’re not sat second in the table on 10 points.
‘Hopefully everyone is looking forward to it and we’ve got full focus on that game. Really good start, really positive start so bring it on.’
Pompey above Southampton going into derby
Pompey head into the contest off the back of a 1-0 triumph over Preston North End, with the result leaving them eighth in the early-season standings.
Crucially, Still’s side have picked up just five points in the first four games of the campaign and played out a 2-2 draw against Watford last time out.
And Poole has made it clear he wants to remain above Southampton throughout the season, starting this weekend.
‘Let’s keep it that way. We plan on staying ahead of them all year so we're really looking forward to the game.’