OPPONENTS: Rotherham United Football Club
MANAGER: Paul Warne
NICKNAME: The Millers
LEAGUE POSITION: 19th
THE JOURNEY: New York Stadium to Fratton Park – Either 227 miles or 3,500 miles – depending on which New York you start from.
LAST TIME OUT:
* Pompey came from behind to rescue a surprising point at Wigan. Despite being under the cosh for most the game, Conor Chaplin popped up with a crucial equaliser with his first touch to send the Blues home with a point.
* Rotherham lost 2-0 at home to Charlton last week thanks to a goal either side of half time.
POMPEY STATS:
* Portsmouth have received as many red cards (2) in their first 4 games of this season as they did in the entire 2016/17 campaign – however in both instances the opposition had a man sent off prior to this in the match.
* At one point against Wigan last week, Portsmouth had 5 academy players on the pitch. They were Adam May, Ben Close, Jack Whatmough, Conor Chaplin and Brendan Haunstrup, with Ben Close and Jack Whatmough being the only two over 21 years old (both turned 21 in August).
* Conversely, Brett Pitman was the only player who finished the game who was over the age of 25 – with the average of the team 22.3 years.
* Pompey have the lowest amount of shots on target in League One so far this season, mustering just 10 in 4 games, giving them a shots to goals conversion rate of 40%
* Top Scorer: Pitman (3), Chaplin (1)
ROTHERHAM STATS:
* Rotherham have lost 3 of their 4 League One games this season, their only triumph coming in a 5-0 rout of Southend.
* Dating back to last season, the Millers have only won twice in their last 24 games.
* Rotherham had a dismal season in the Championship last year and failed to win any games away from home, with their last victory on the road coming in April 2016 – a run of 27 games without a win.
* The Millers are the most fouled team in League One this season, winning 61 free kicks, an average of over 15 per game.
* Top Scorers: Keiffer Moore (4) Joe Newell/Ryan Williams (1)
HEAD TO HEAD (Courtesy of Pompeyrama.com):
* Pompey currently lead the head to head 11-8, with 10 games finishing level.
* The Blues and the Millers passed like ships in the night during Pompey’s descent through the Football League, and never met thanks to Rotherham achieving promotion from the league that Pompey were relegated to.
* This means the last meeting between these two sides came at Fratton Park in April 2003 – and it’s a game that has gone down in history. Pompey won the game 3-2 thanks to a Todorov double and a Merson penalty, a result which confirmed Portsmouth as Champions of Division 1 with a game remaining.
PLAYED FOR US/PLAYED FOR THEM/SCUMMER WATCH
* Ryan Williams – You’d be forgiven if this one slipped under the radar, but the Aussie U23 International came through the academy at Pompey and made a handful of first team appearances in the Championship under Steve Cotterill.
* Gareth Evans – Won’t be featuring against his old club because of suspension, but spent a season and a half at Rotherham, playing 49 games and netting 9 times.
* Darren Potter – Started his career as a promising prospect at Liverpool, but one loan spell to Southampton later and it’s been downhill ever since! He spent 6 years and over 260 games at MK Dons before being signed by Rotherham this summer.
* Richie Barker – When Barker took over at Pompey he came with plenty of excitement having steered Crawley to promotion, but instead became the shortest reigning manager in Portsmouth’s history after getting the sack after just 20 games in League Two.
* Kenny Jackett – Speaking of ill-fated managerial reigns, our own KJ had his managerial record blemished less than a year ago when he took over at the New York Stadium. Rotherham were in freefall at the time and after going winless in his first 5 games he resigned, in doing so becoming the shortest reigning manager in their history. Ironically, this will be Jackett’s fifth game in charge of Pompey against the club he only lasted 5 games at.
ONE TO WATCH:
* Jamie Proctor – He scores goals wherever he goes, and boy has he been a lot of places. The lad is only 25, but has played for 10 different Football League clubs in his short career. He’s a typical lower league striker, good in the air and can hold the ball up well. The other option was former Arsenal man Oluwasemilogo Adesewo Ibidapo Ajayi, but there were too many vowels for my liking.
PREDICTION:
* Rotherham’s away form is dire, 27 games without a win, but 25 of these were at a higher level and their 5-0 win against Southend shows they are capable of playing decent football at this level. With the Sky cameras in town and the transfer window closed players will be out to show what they can do, and I think a 3-1 victory is on the cards, with goals from Bennett, Pitman and Naismith.
NEXT 5 GAMES:
Sat 9th Sep – Wimbledon (A) – League One
Tue 12th Sep – Northampton (A) – League One
Sat 16th Sep – Fleetwood (H) – League One
Sat 23rd Sep – Scunthorpe (A) – League One
Tue 26th Sep – Bristol Rovers (H) – League One
PUP
Written by PompeyFrippy and originally posted in the forum.
Follow @VitalPortsmouth.
2017-18 Prediction League – September
Rotherham (h) – Sunday 3rd September 2017 – click here.
Wimbledon (a) – Saturday 9th September 2017 – click here.
Northampton (a) – Tuesday 12th September 2017 – click here.
Fleetwood (h) – Saturday 16th September 2017 – click here.
Scunthorpe (a) – Saturday 23rd September 2017 – click here.
Bristol Rovers (h) – Tuesday 26th September 2017 – click here.
Oldham (h) – Saturday 30th September 2017 – click here.
