OPPONENTS: AFC Wimbledon
MANAGER: Neal Ardley
NICKNAME: The Dons or The Wombles
LEAGUE POSITION: 17th
THE JOURNEY: Fratton Park to Kingsmeadow – 63.6 miles or just over an hour, our shortest away trip of the year.
LAST TIME OUT:
* Pompey fell to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at home against Rotherham.
* Likewise, Wimbledon lost 1-0 away to Blackpool last weekend.
POMPEY STATS:
* Portsmouth have not won since the opening day of the season, picking up just 2 points in 4 games. Pompey have not gone 5 without a win since Oct/Nov 2015.
* 4 Pompey players made their debut on Sunday. Stuart O’Keefe, Ollie Hawkins, Matt Kennedy and Nathan Thompson all appeared in the league for the first time in blue, and Matt Clarke made his first appearance of the season.
* The Blues continue to prop up the league table for shots on target, having mustered up only 12 attempts this season.
* Conor Chaplin’s header against Wigan was the only time Pompey have found the net away from Fratton this season. Only Gillingham have scored less.
* Top Scorer: Pitman (3), Chaplin (1)
WIMBLEDON STATS:
* The Dons find themselves 1 place and 1 point below Portsmouth in the table, having won 1 and drawn 1 of their first 5 games.
* Dating back to last season, they have failed to score in 9 of their last 11 games.
* Only one of Wimbledon’s last 11 games has seen over 2.5 goals, with both teams finding the net just once in the same 11 games.
* No Wimbledon players has scored twice in one game since November 2016, when George Francombe scored the 4th and 5th goal in their 5-1 rout of Bury.
* Top Scorers: Nadjim Abdou/Kwesi Appiah/Andy Barcham (1)
HEAD TO HEAD (Courtesy of Pompeyrama.com):
* Pompey and AFC Wimbledon have only met 6 times in their history, all in the last 4 years and all in League Two. The Wombles boast a 3-2 record with one draw.
* Pompey and the original Wimbledon (1889-2004) met 28 times, with both sides winning 10 games apiece.
* The last meeting at Kingsmeadow in April 2016 saw Pompey come away with all 3 points thanks to a single goal from Michael Smith.
PLAYED FOR US/PLAYED FOR THEM/SCUMMER WATCH
* Paul Robinson – initally on loan from Millwall, the centre back signed permanently and became club captain in 2015 (ending his 14 year stint with Millwall). He played 38 games during the season before leaving upon the arrival of Paul Cook.
* Andy Barcham – Played 53 games for Pompey, and on his day looked very threatening, but often looked disinterested. Despite being a constant goal threat he only scored 4 times in blue before moving to Wimbledon.
ONE TO WATCH:
* Andy Barcham – Players have a habit of coming back to bite us, and the 30 year old will be keen to show his old club what they’re missing. He has found the net a total of 11 times since his move to Kingsmeadow, including one in their last home game, and will be a handful to our full backs with his pace and trickery.
PREDICTION:
* Adjusting to life in League One has been a grounding experience, and although our squad has been strengthened, I’d still imagine it will be a few games before they gel as a unit. That being said, Wimbledon don’t create or score much, so the odd goal will nick this one. 1-0 Pompey, Hawkins with a header just before the break.
NEXT 5 GAMES:
Tue 12th Sep – Northampton (A) – League One
Sat 16th Sep – Fleetwood (H) – League One
Sat 23rd Sep – Scunnythorpe (A) – League One
Tue 26th Sep – Bristol Rovers (H) – League One
Sat 30th Sep – Oldham (H) – League One
PUP
Written by PompeyFrippy and originally posted in the forum.
Follow @VitalPortsmouth.
2017-18 Prediction League – September
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.
