It was another away day to forget for Portsmouth on Saturday. They crashed to a 5-1 setback at West Brom, meaning they’ve now conceded more away goals than any other Championship side. However, boss John Mousinho elected to rest a handful of key players, taking their hectic schedule into account. This was surely a nod to this Tuesday clash at home to Millwall, which is a much more realistic winning opportunity for them. They’ll be glad to be back at Fratton Park. Reason being, Pompey have lost only once in their previous 10 here, as well as winning each of the last 4. 22 of their 29 season points have come here, proving how comfortable and confident they are in front of their own supporters. Millwall are a side Mousinho will expect his team to defeat. Although the club from The Den won away at Luton at the weekend, it was quite a scrappy display. That came at a cost as their lengthy injury list extended after seeing goalkeeper Lukas Jensen and in-form wing back Calum Scanlon forced off. Manager Alex Neil hinted at them being quite significant issues. They are already without their first-choice right back, winger and striker.

Again, taking into account the rotation Portsmouth underwent on Saturday, it should ensure the team are firing on all cylinders here. Clearly, Millwall was the priority, so they best make sure they make the most of this. Luton had a very energy-sapping clash against a rival on Saturday, but are short of options due to injuries and don’t have the chance to rotate. Mousinho will recall the likes of Callum Lang and Josh Murphy here, and will be eager to make an impression from the very start. Pompey’s strong home form is also well-documented in recent times. A big reason for that is their strong first-half record. Across their current 4 match winning streak at Fratton Park, they were ahead after 45 minutes in 3 of those. Accumulatively, 13 goals were scored in these fixtures, of which 6 arrived before half time, 5 being inside the opening 30 minutes. Being bright in the early stages is a huge benefit, specifically considering Portsmouth are up against Millwall. That is because The Lions have only been leading at half time in 2 away league encounters all season. In addition to this, Neil’s men have netted just 3 goals in this time, which only betters that 1 other Championship team, Queens Park Rangers.

This match should be good for a couple of goals at least. It is the type of match both will realistically believe they can win, so it should not necessarily be a cagey affair. Goals have generally followed Portsmouth this season considering their league battles have averaged 3.11 goals over the campaign to date. Also, 10 of their 13 home league games have featured a minimum of 2 goals. It would be fair to say Millwall are not the 1st team that should spring to mind when expecting goals in the Championship. However, since Alex Neil has taken the helm, there are reasons to believe that kind of mentality is changing. Those matches have averaged 2.33 goals in his short 6 game tenure in all competitions. We’re going along the lines of expecting Portsmouth to come out on top here, and on that basis they should likely beat their goal line by themselves. After all, Pompey have recorded 2 or more goals scored in each of their 6 home victories in the current campaign.

One of those that John Mousinho decided to rest to the bench in the West Brom loss on Saturday was Callum Lang. The former Wigan Athletic forward is undoubtedly one of their key players, so it was a shock to not see him in the starting 11. However, the fact he was not strengthens his case to have a major impact in this easier home clash. The 26-year-old is their top league scorer with 10, double that of any of his team mates. He is responsible for 27.78% of their overall Championship goals this season. It comes as no surprise to see he is their main goalscorer considering the general impact he has in the final 3rd. This is a player that is not a striker, but he does top the squad charts for both number of shots and also amount of goals on target in league action. Remember, he only played 20 minutes at the weekend, so this is a refreshed and fired up individual taking to the field.