Rovers v Pompey

[Boz]

A few years since we've played the South coast side and they're not in the best of form since Appleton escaped to manage Blackpool. Jake Jervis on loan to the visitors, after failing to impress in his spell here, will he come back to haunt us?

Gibson looking a doubt for Rovers, to go along with Wallace and the longer term absentees. I'm not expecting any surprises from Ronnie in team selection; Taylor for Gibson, Harrison instead of Wallace and Cassidy replacing Stockton.

What's the weather like on Wirral, any danger of the game being called off?

Prediction: Time of year and climate suggest that there's not going to be a big turnout for this game. I'd guess the visitors will bring ~300-400 and we should be around the 5k mark.

In terms of result, with the tough away games coming up, we really must win this one. Think we will, by the odd goal 1-0/2-1

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Agree with most of Boz's opening post. Having defended our below par performances in recent home matches, this is a game we simply have to win given the difficulty of the two away matches that follow.

Portsmouth have been disrupted and inconsistent all season, but their strikers, McCleod and Benson, are a threat.

I think the changes at the back and in midfield will be as anticipated, but I do worry that a Harrison / Palmer pairing in midfield is not creative enough; certainly that was the case in the Walsall game. It was also interesting to hear Ronnie talk this week about a possible return to a more direct style of play in Wallace's absence. I would hope this is restricted to clever balls into the channel for O'Halloran, rather than a real long ball approach.

With a hard frost last night, interspersed with torrential rain, there is some danger the match will be off, which would be pretty damaging. Portsmouth still have very good travelling support and may bring 5-600 to get the gate up around the 6,000 mark.