RECAP as Portsmouth slump to successive away defeats after 3-1 loss at Plymouth

Pompey’s trip to Plymouth on Saturday is set top be a sell-out.

The Pilgrims confirmed on Monday morning that all home tickets for the game had now sold out.

And with no current availability in the away end either, Home Park is set to be packed to capacity for the much anticipated fixture.

The Blues were handed a ticket allocation of 1,600 for the Barn Park End of the ground. But they’ve all been snapped up, with no seats now on sale via the club website.

That’s of huge credit to Pompey, who sit 10th in the table and with only an outside chance of making the play-offs. John Mousinho’s side are nine points adrift of Barnsley who occupy sixth place.

The interest also demonstrates how important the game is for Pilgrims fans, with Steven Schumacher’s side second-placed in the table and on course for automatic promotion.

Joe Rafferty could be in line to make his return to the side this afternoon.

The right-back has been absent since September with a groin injury, which required two operations.

Mousiho is hopeful the defender can make a long-awaited comeback this afternoon.

He told The News: ‘Joe came through the AFC Wimbledon game great. He played 60 minutes, which was the plan.

‘We looked at 60 minutes and thought he could be capable of playing more but we decided to stick to the plan – which was to just get him through those minutes and make sure we protected him, not rushing him back too quickly.

‘That’s the most important thing for us – that we don’t rush him back.

‘We have to make sure he’s right, we have to make sure he’s fit and that he’s comfortable coming back into the side if and when needed.

‘League One football, as we all know, is very, very tough and you’ve got to make sure you are fit off the back of that.

‘He’ll possibly be fit this weekend.

‘It’s maybe a weekend too quick so we will look at the games next week and try to see what we can do in terms of fitting him in.

‘But we’ll be largely led by Joe and then the medical department who will probably have to rein Joe back a bit because he’s really keen to get going.’

Good afternoon and welcome to Devon as Pompey make the trip to Plymouth.

John Mousinho’s men have a new lease of life under their new head coach, winning twice, drawing once and losing once since his appointment in January.

Joe Rafferty and Zak Swanson could be in line to make their returns following spells out with injury, while Tom Lowery, Jay Mingi, Clark Robertson & Ronan Curtis are expected to miss out.

The Pilgrims will be looking to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat to promotion rivals Sheffield Wednesday last week and sit second in the table.

We’ll be providing updates, team news and video before live commentary when the action gets under way from 3pm.