The Great Escape is on in battle of the ex-Portsmouth bosses to avoid Football League relegation

They’re the former Pompey managers going head-to-head in the battle to keep their respective sides in the Football League.

And so far it’s advantage Steve Cotterill after a remarkable change of fortunes has lifted Forest Green Rovers out of the League Two relegation zone.

In the process, Danny Cowley’s Colchester now find themselves occupying the drop zone as the scrap intensifies.

Cotterill was appointed Rovers boss in January in the aftermath of Troy Deeney’s disastrous 29-day spell, which yielded three points.

Rooted to the bottom of the table, they had recorded four wins all season and were positioned a daunting six points adrift of safety.

However, Tuesday night’s eye-catching 2-0 victory at Bradford marked a fourth win in seven matches, catapulting them out of the relegation places in the process.

During Cotterill’s time in charge so far, the ex-Pompey manager has totalled 14 points from 10 games to impressively transform their fading bid for survival.

Meanwhile, life has been a little more difficult for Cowley in his first head coach job since departing Fratton Park in January 2023.

Replacing Matty Etherington at Colchester in early January, he and brother Nicky signed deals until the summer of 2026 and were challenged with climbing the League Two table.

At the time, United were five points above the relegation zone, although with eight defeats in nine matches under his predecessor, were rapidly sinking.

The Cowleys have clearly shored up the defeats, losing two of their nine matches at the helm, although, crucially, have won just one.

Aside from a 1-0 victory at Morecambe in January, the side have drawn six times, making it nine points from a possible 27.

Following Rovers’ win on Tuesday night, Colchester now find themselves in the bottom two along with Sutton United, adrift by one point although possess two games in hand.

Incidentally, the relegation rivals met in February, with Colchester fighting back from a 2-0 deficit in a 3-3 draw at JobServe Community Stadium.

Cotterill spent 17 months as Pompey manager until leaving in October 2011 to join Nottingham Forest.

He won 19 of his 61 matches in charge during a difficult period for the Blues with ownership and financial issues following relegation from the Premier League.