US Portsmouth tasked to take another step towards Wessex Premier season points target ahead of foot passenger ferry crossing to Cowes Sports

The USP staff and playing squad are making the trip across to the Isle of Wight on the ferry as foot passengers after the club could not find a suitable timing slot in order to make a transport crossing.

It means Grice and his players will have to hop on a mini-bus upon arrival in Fishbourne in order to complete their journey to Cowes.

But the US Portsmouth boss, whose side currently sit 14th in the table with 35 points from 30 games, does not believe their travel plan will have any bearing on how his side perform at Cowes.

Grice said: ‘They always come along (Isle of Wight trip), I don't mind it, it could be worse.

‘It is one of the more local-ish games, it's just sometimes a bit of a pain. We've left it a bit late to book the boat, there's no space on the slots we wanted, so we're going across as foot passengers then we're going to get a mini-bus on the other side.

‘Don't get me wrong, Isle of Wight teams have always been in the league, it could be worse and we could be miles away from the ferry. Once we get back we're pretty much home so it's not a big deal.’

US Portsmouth head to Cowes on the back of a free weekend having not played since the dramatic 3-3 home draw with Moneyfields on February 1.

But the Cowes trip is one Grice has pinpointed for his team to close to within seven points of his 45-point season aim with a victory.

He added: ‘I've got full respect for Cowes, but I'll be targeting my team to get three points as we always will.

‘I'm targeting three (points) this weekend, that's no disrespect to Cowes, but they're in and around where we are.’