Portsmouth Preview - Away, Oct 16th

Watford will look to continue their excellent away form this weekend with a trip to Portsmouth on Saturday.

Pompey have staged something of a mini revival of late with two wins and a draw in their last three outings, including an impressive comeback from 2-0 down at Middlesbrough before the international break. The bad news for the South Coast side came earlier this week when they were denied permission to come out of administration as they 'had not met four conditions', which were not specified. The general consensus however is that they are moving in the right direction.

Three players from last year recently penned new contracts with the club, Hermann Hreidarsson, Ricardo Rocha and Nwanko 'King' Kanu, adding experience aplenty to their paper-thin squad.

Portsmouth Team News:

Steve Cotterill will be without former Hornet Danny Webber and left-back Hermann Hreidarsson on Saturday; both are expected to be sidelined until December.

Likely Line-up:

Ashdown

Ward Rocha Mokoena (c) Dickinson

Lawrence Brown Mullins Utaka

Kitson Nugent

Key Player: Liam Lawrence

Recently signed on loan from Stoke City in order to get the deal done before the transfer deadline, Lawrence will sign permanently for Cotterill's men in January as a part of a swap deal for Marc Wilson. A creative force in midfield, Lawrence also takes a mean set play.

Home Form:

PORTSMOUTH 0-0 Ipswich Town

PORTSMOUTH 6-1 Leicester City

PORTSMOUTH 3-1 Bristol City

Watford-Portsmouth Head2Head:

Watford 2-2 Portsmouth '03

Watford 5-2 Portsmouth '04 (CC)

Portsmouth 2-1 Watford '06

Watford 4-2 Portsmouth '07

Watford Team News:

The Hornet's have no injury worries heading into this one following the international break and therefore it seems unlikely Malky Mackay will deviate from the side that has served him so well in recent weeks.

Likely Line-up:

Loach

Doyley Mariappa M.Taylor A.Taylor

Eustace (c)

Cowie Mutch Buckley

Sordell Graham

Key Player: Don Cowie

The Don' is currently playing out of his skin and rightfully earned a call-up from Scotland for the double header against the Czech Republic and Spain though failed to feature in either. Still, that's to the Hornet's benefit and the industrious winger will be fresh for his battle with the home full-backs.

Away Form:

Bristol City 0-2 WATFORD

Millwall 1-6 WATFORD

Sheffield United 0-1 WATFORD

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