Why Danny Cowley believes Portsmouth need to be wary of returning ex-Bristol Rovers and Ipswich striker Ellis Harrison on Fleetwood visit to Fratton Park

The striker is expected to feature for Fleetwood at PO4 – a month after his January transfer to the Cod Army.

And the Blues head coach explained how his side will have to be on guard – due to the 28-year-old's habit of upping his game against his former clubs.

Using Ipswich as an example, Cowley admitted you could spot a noticeable difference in Harrison’s performance levels when he faced the Tractor Boys.

The front man failed to score in the two Blues games he featured in against his former employers.

But Pompey won on both occasions – once in the league and the other in the FA Cup – with Harrison’s display a key factor, according to the head coach.

Now the Blues find themselves in a similar situation to the one Ipswich found themselves in.

And while Harrison has notched just two goals since making the move to Stephen Crainey’s side, Cowley is well aware of the danger he poses.

Cowley told The News: ‘Ellis is a good kid, a bundle of fun and a very good player.

‘On his day he’s a real handful and I’ve seen his performances for Pompey against Ipswich and I’m sure our supporters remember them as well.

‘He was always able to find his best performance against his previous club. So we’re anticipating seeing the best of him on Saturday.

‘He’s a good kid, a family man and has many good qualities.

‘He’s big, strong and powerful, while being good aerially and in hold-up play. He also always carries a goal threat.’

Harrison significantly fell down the Pompey pecking order under Cowley this season, due to issues with fitness, illness and form.

That led to the Fratton Park chief sanctioning his move to Lancashire.

But the Blues head coach has sung his appraises ahead of his return, before revealing he never saw the ex-Bristol Rovers man at his best.

He added: ‘For us with Ellis, unfortunately he just picked up an injury when we came in and we never saw the best of him.

‘I don’t think he was ever in the best physical shape, and he’s the type of boy that needs to play games to get fit.

‘Unfortunately, he couldn’t come back after his injury which meant he was probably a month behind the rest of the group physically and wasn’t able to get a run of games in the team.

‘As a consequence, we weren’t able to get the best from him.

‘I think for all parties it was right for Ellis to move on. I know he’s popular within our dressing room, and we have nothing but love for Ellis.’

Message From the Editor

You can support our local team of expert Pompey writers by subscribing here for all the latest news from Fratton Park for less than 25p per week.