Preview: Fleetwood Town v Portsmouth

16 January 2021

Fleetwood Town face Portsmouth on Saturday 16 January at Highbury in Sky Bet League One, and we have all you need to know ahead of the 3pm kick-off in our match preview.

Fixture: Fleetwood Town v Portsmouth

Competition: Sky Bet League One

Date: Saturday 16 January 2021

Kick-off: 15:00

Venue: Highbury Stadium, Park Avenue, Fleetwood, FY7 6TX

Match officials: James Bell (Referee), Richard Bartlett & Matthew Bristow (Assistant Referees), Sebastian Stockbridge (Fourth Official)

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FLEETWOOD TOWN

Town returned to action on Tuesday evening as they travelled to the KCOM Stadium to face Hull City in the third round of the Papa John’s trophy which, unfortunately, ended in a 3-2 defeat.

The Cod Army took the lead through Paddy Madden early on, with Wes Burns adding to that early in the second half. Hull pulled one back through substitute Mallik Wilks before Keane Lewis-Potter and Lewie Coyle both found the back of the net to earn their side a spot in the next round.

Before that, Fleetwood ended up drawing 1-1 with Crewe Alexandra at The Alexandra Stadium on Boxing Day. Wes Burns opened the scoring in that one, but a controversial goal by former-Fleetwood forward Mikael Mandron meant the game would finish in a draw.

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PORTSMOUTH

Portsmouth have not shown the same form they face over the last couple of months in the last week as they have been knocked out of both the Emirates FA Cup and Papa John’s trophy.

In the FA Cup, Pompey made the trip to face Bristol City, which ended in a 2-1 loss after Chris Martin’s late winner. Soon after, Kenny Jackett’s team fielded a rotated side against Peterborough in the EFL Trophy and, even though Ellis Harrison scored in the 90^th minute, they lost the game 5-1 on the night.

The team from Fratton Park have also played Hull recently, with that game being their latest in League One. A Jacob Greaves own goal early on started the game well for Portsmouth, and another own goal from Josh Magennis ten minutes into the second half sealed the points for the side.

ONE TO WATCH: JOHN MARQUIS

The one to watch for Town’s clash with Portsmouth is forward John Marquis. The 28-year-old is currently the top scorer with nine goals in the league, and eleven in all competitions.

Lewisham-born Marquis started his career in August 2009 at Millwall and went out on seven different loan spells during his time at The Den, with his most prolific time coming in 2015 whilst at Gillingham. In that spell, the forward managed eight goals in 21 appearances.

Even though he spent much of his time out on loan, Marquis also made over 65 appearances for Millwall, scoring six goals in that time.

In June 2016, Marquis made the move to Doncaster Rovers and went on to spend the next three years in Yorkshire. Not only did he make over 150 appearances for the club, but he also found the next on 67 occasions.

This attracted the attention of Pompey who made a move for the number nine in August 2019. Since joining the side from Fratton Park, he has scored 25 goals in 71 matches.

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WATCH TOWN ON iFOLLOW!

Supporters can now purchase video match passes for Fleetwood Town’s Sky Bet League One clash against Portsmouth on Saturday.

With fans still unable to attend games, the iFollow match pass is your best option to watch the Cod Army play.

Simon Wiles' side are set to face Portsmouth in a league clash at Highbury on Sunday, with Town looking to get back to winning ways - and you can watch the game for just £10!

If you'd like to purchase your match pass, click HERE.

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Match Previews

Match Reports

Report: Town battle hard in narrow Portsmouth defeat

16 January 2021

Fleetwood Town battled hard in a narrow 1-0 league loss to Portsmouth at Highbury Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Ahead of the game, everyone in the ground participated in a minute’s silence so that we could remember all the fans, supporters and staff that unfortunately passed away in the last twelve months.

Town seemed to be on top for large portions of the game but it was a John Marquis header from close range that broke the deadlock. Simon Wiles’ side continued to press but couldn’t find a way through the Portsmouth defence.

The first chance of the game came in the second minute as new signing Kyle Vassell played the ball through to Paddy Madden, who turned on the spot before firing just wide of the target.

Town quickly followed with Madden as he ran down the left, cut back, and crossed the ball into a packed box but the keeper came out to collect it.

The away side took the led around the 15-minute mark as Ryan Williams picked up the ball on the right-wing before whipping a cross into the box, where Marquis beat James Hill to a header inside the six-yard box.

Fleetwood almost responded straight away as a brilliant passing move with Madden finding Callum Camps, who was through on goal, forcing a save out of Craig MacGillivray from inside the Pompey area.

Most of the play in the following ten minutes was spent in the middle of the park, with both sides battling it out until Vassell found a yard of space on the left, crossed the ball in towards Charlie Mulgrew who headed just wide of the near post.

On the stroke of half-time, Town had a free kick in a good range of the goal, but Josh Morris’ strike was straight at MacGillivray, not troubling the goalkeeper.

Portsmouth started out the second half with the better team as Michael Jacobs was fed the ball after a quick counter-attack but his left-footed shot was easily saved by Joe Hilton.

Like the majority of the first half, both sides were cancelling each other out in the midfield with minimal attacks being created. Both sides had half-chances but neither keeper was troubled before Camps struck the ball from 20-yards straight at MacGillivray.

With five minutes to go, Hill miskicked the ball at the back, leaving Williams free on the edge of the Fleetwood area but his first-time shot goes well wide of the far post.

Town XI: Hilton (GK), Connolly, Whelan (Rossiter 72’), Camps, J.Morris (S.Morris 79’), Mulgrew, Coutts (C), Madden, Vassell, Hill, Rydel.

Subs not used: Duffy, Saunders, Finley, Holgate, Matete.

Pompey XI: MacGillivray (GK), Johnson, Brown, Naylor (C), Whatmough, Williams, Marquis, Cannon, Harness, Raggett, Jacobs.

Subs not used: Turnbell (GK), Close, Harrison, Bolton, Nicolaisen, Hiwula, Monga.