Portsmouth Opposition View: ‘They've got a number of players which are going to hit us’
James Collins and Alan Sheehan celebrating in Luton's 3-2 win against Portsmouth under the lights at Kenilworth Road
Luton Town are gearing up for their first away fixture of the season, and just like during our League One promotion campaign, it’s Portsmouth at Fratton Park. Our journeys have intertwined over the years, battling it out in both League One and League Two, and now, here we both find ourselves in the Championship - albeit under different circumstances. The Hatters arrive after a season in the Premier League, while Pompey join us fresh from a triumphant League One title win.
To get a deeper understanding of what we can expect from Pompey, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jake Smith, Host of PompeyLive & The Football Hour on Portsmouth’s Express Live.
Q: how do you feel about your team's recent performances?
A: You know competitively very happy with a draw where Leeds, that goes without saying despite having the lead in injury time.
The point considering how well Leeds started and the fact they had 22 shots to our 5, you kind of take that point, you run away with it. And of course it's, you know, ugly on paper for us - but it’s at least one of the toughest, if not the toughest game of a season away at Leeds United so I'm happy with that.
Millwall on Tuesday night after we went to Elland Road last weekend, knowing that we had 6 or 7 players missing due to injury. We then made six more changes on Tuesday against Millwall. That kind of shows because the squad we put out in the Carabao Cup. We've got a very light team at the moment. We certainly need new additions. But you know, actually in a way relieved to be out of the Carabao Cup, we can now just narrow down focus on the league, prevent hopefully any further injuries, and I wouldn't say a pointless cup game because I do enjoy them, but ultimately this season the aim is to survive. So yeah, actually quite blessed to be out of a cup. It was not a great performance but we know that it was a heavily changed team and we're going to see some changes again on Saturday. So not to read not too much into that one.
Q: Who are the players we should be worried about facing?
A: Without a shadow of a doubt, it has to be Sammy Silvera, on loan from Middlesbrough. He played centrally, like you said earlier, centrally against Leeds United last weekend and moved out to the (left) wing a bit on Tuesday night. He didn't have much of an impact from there, admittedly, I think everyone had quite a quiet game. Not sure whether that was just sort of taken a foot off the gas knowing that it wasn't a high priority game.
But yeah, since he's come in, he was the standout performer. And on Saturday last week against Leeds, every counter attack we had, albeit not many of them, he was at the centre of. He was such a threat, I'm really looking forward to seeing him get his first competitive goal for us. Hopefully that comes sooner rather than later. But yeah. Sammy Silvera, I think without a shadow of a doubt.
Q: Are there any Luton players that cause your concern?
A: No, not at all. No, I mean, with a squad coming down from a Premier League I head into the game well aware of, you know, every single threat of the championship season and the kind of difficulties we're going to face from entirety of the campaign. Luton, they've got a number of players which are going to hit us.
I'm trying to think of one player in particular, Morris given an opportunity to score and he's got it. In this division if you can, a lapse in concentration for even a second of about, chances are you going to be punished. So yeah, I mean, look, we're going to look out for every single player that goes without saying, but Morris as soon as he's in that box, I'm going to be concerned as soon as he strikes that ball.
Q: What are your expectations for this game and what is your score prediction?
A: Expectation, well I think Luton coming off the back of that defeat will be well be up for it. They want to sort of, avenge Monday and get back on track.
So I think that's going to be something we need to look out for from a Pompey perspective, but also from our perspective you know, we're also looking for our first win of a season. It wasn't a great performance on Tuesday night, we didn't even have a shot on target. But like I said, it was a heavily changed team coming off the back of decent momentum.
With that draw at Leeds last Saturday, we know we're at home in our first home Championship fixture since 2012. It's going to be a sell out. The mood around the place is very, very positive as we know we're in good spirits and I think this season, in order to try and survive in this division, we're going to have to rely on Fratton Park and and try and make it as much of a fortress as we possibly can.
We're going to lose games, potentially. We're going to lose a lot of games because the quality in this league, it's just superb. But if we can hold our own at home then we should be okay. I think so expectation from a Pompey perspective going up against a side just relegated from Premier League. Again you take a draw. I'd like a draw.