Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich and Plymouth have boosted Portsmouth promotion hope - now it's over to Michael Eisner & Co

After all, that 122nd-minute Wembley header sealed the Owls’ removal from League One next season.

It is often stated that any self-respecting side with promotion aspirations should focus on themselves rather than worry about their rivals’ strength.

However, there is no doubting the division will be weaker without Ipswich, Plymouth and now Sheffield Wednesday next season.

And that in itself is a reason to celebrate as the Blues head into a seventh demoralising year stranded at this level, while the likes of Luton and Coventry have long since waved goodbye.

There is no shame in Pompey grasping any slight advantage or exploiting every little leverage in order to escape. Enough is enough, by any means necessary.

Quite simply, it is irrefutable that the line-up for 2023-24 is more favourable than previous campaigns.

League One has bid farewell to a Plymouth side with 101 points and waved goodbye to an Ipswich team with 98 points and comfortably the division’s biggest wage bill.

Now they are joined in the Championship next season by an Owls side which racked up 96 points and boasted the likes of Barry Bannan, Lee Gregory, Michael Smith and Windass.

In contrast, they have been replaced by Blackpool, Wigan and Reading.

The Blues shouldn’t be relying on others’ weaknesses to drive their own promotion push, of course, there must also be a hunger from within to progress.

An improved playing budget, better recruitment and more effective management is essential to improve on this term’s disappointing outcome of eighth.

Undoubtedly the four sides above which still remain in League One – Barnsley, Bolton, Peterborough and Derby – will continue to offer a threat.

Although Peterborough’s decision to transfer list eight players, among them first-team regulars such as Jonson Clarke-Harris, Frankie Kent and Josh Knight, in favour of a different approach does intrigue.

Traditionally during Pompey’s time in League One, sides dropping down from the Championship naturally possess bigger budgets and are usually among the promotion frontrunners.

That’s particularly the case with Wigan, although this time find themselves returning amid ongoing financial problems which sees them start next season with minus eight points.

The Latics were fined three points in March in recognition of late payment of wages, deducted from their Championship total as they finished bottom.

In May, they were hit with a four-point deduction for next term, again having failed to pay players on time – and last week it was extended by another four points having not met a Football League funding deadline.

Reading have also suffered financially and, as a consequence, were deducted six points by the Football League in April, condemning them to relegation.

The punishment was in recognition of breaching the terms of an agreed business plan for a previous profit and sustainability rule breach in November 2021

They were handed an initial six-point deduction in 2021 having lost £57.8m between 2017 and 2021, with the Football League’s limit being £39m.

The Royals have now agreed a new budget with the independent club financial reporting unit (CFRU), which ‘will be finalised once the club's full profit and sustainability review has been completed for the current season’.

However, the club’s transfer embargo, which has been in place since the summer of 2021, is claimed to ‘effectively end’ this summer.

As for Blackpool, they were the first Championship club to be relegated this season following a loss to Millwall in April.

They slumped to defeat in 24 of their 46 league games – more than any other side in the division – to finish second from bottom.

Michael Appleton, Mick McCarthy and development coach Stephen Dobie all managed the Tangerines during a season to forget, with former boss Neil Critchley now back at the club.

Certainly they will be hoping for a quick return having struggled since Critchley left to become assistant to Steven Gerrard at Villa a year ago.

Nonetheless, these are no Plymouth, Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday – now it’s over to Pompey and owners Tornante to exploit that favourable position.