Why Portsmouth will be glad to see the back of Brentford-bound Peterborough striker Ivan Toney

However, they will take satisfaction from news that promotion rivals Peterborough will be without star striker and Blues tormentor-in-chief Ivan Toney next season.

It’s been announced that the 24-year-old will join Championship Brentford for a fee that will rise to as much as £10m.

The front man, who scored 26 goals in 39 appearances for the Posh last term, has agreed a five-year-deal with the former Griffin Park side, bringing his two-season spell at London Road to an end.

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In that time, the former Newcastle youngster netted 49 times in 94 appearances, with four of those coming against Pompey.

And they weren’t just run-of-the mill goals either.

Indeed, all four strikes – in three games – proved detrimental to Pompey’s Championship ambitions over the past two seasons.

Toney’s double at Fratton Park on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, ultimately put an end to hopes of automatic promotion that campaign, with Luton and Barnsley instead celebrating heading to the second tier with one game of the season remaining.

Peterborough ran out 3-2 winners that night, to leave the stunned Blues destined for the play-offs – and we all know how that played out.

His opener against Pompey at PO4 last December then helped Posh end Kenny Jackett’s side’s sequence of six consecutive wins in all competitions.

Pompey were finally getting their season back on track after a less-than-impressive start to their 2019-20 campaign.

Toney’s effort set up a 2-2 draw and took the wind out of the Fratton Park outfit’s sail.

And that decisive result on home soil against a promotion rival contributed to the Blues being confined to the play-offs last season, after league placings were decided on an unweighted-points-per game formula.

Yet his final act in a Peterborough shirt was probably even more devastating for on-looking Pompey fans.

That came just days before lockdown in March, with the Blues desperately trying to force their way into the division’s top two placings.

A win at London Road would have seen them draw level with Rotherham in second place, separated only on goal difference.

However, the impressive Toney and his Posh team-mates combined to shatter Pompey’s hopes, with Peterborough running out 2-0 winners thanks to goals from ex-Fratton Park youngster Dan Butler and, yes you’ve guessed it, the man in question.

The Blues, of course, went on to scupper their own chances of automatic promotion even further with a frustrating 2-2 home draw against Fleetwood just days later.

However, the doubt had already crept in thanks to Toney & Co.

Peterborough have been quick to find a replacement for the Bees-bound ace, having announced the signing of Bristol Rovers front man Jonson Clarke-Harris in a reported £1m deal last week.

His record against Pompey is less prolific compared with Toney’s, with the former Rotherham and Coventry striker only netting once against the Blues – during a 1-1 draw with Rovers in February 2019.

However, that’s only one of two appearances Clarke-Harrison has made against Pompey, so we should take nothing for granted!

The Blues’ next match-up against Peterborough is on December 5 at Fratton Park.