Danny Cowley issues Portsmouth demand ahead of Rotherham United clash | OneFootball

Portsmouth are sat in 11th place in the League One table, having lost to Cheltenham at the weekend – and boss Danny Cowley has now told the club’s official website that he wants his side to bounce back and put in a ‘positive performance’ against the Millers tonight.

Pompey have been in contention for a play-off place in the second half of this campaign and with six games left, they could still potentially rack up enough points to sneak into that top six – but they’d be heavily reliant on the likes of Sunderland and co dropping plenty of points.

They had a real opportunity to try and push towards those play-off spots but having failed to win in any of their last five League One outings, it has left them, more than likely, contemplating another campaign in the third tier and how to build on it.

Quiz: Can you identify each of these 24 ex-Portsmouth players just by looking at 3 clues?

1 of 24

Age now: 51 Signed from: Man City Left for: Bristol City

David James Michael Brown Ricardo Rocha Hayden Mullins

Regardless of where Portsmouth end up though, Danny Cowley is insistent that he doesn’t want a repeat performance to the one that saw Pompey fall to defeat against Cheltenham at the weekend. Instead, coming up against a high-flying Rotherham side tonight, he has told his side that he wants a more ‘positive’ showing from his team.

The Millers themselves though are desperate for points having fallen out of the automatic promotion spots – and Cowley would no doubt love nothing more than to heap more misery on Rotherham in this fixture and ensure they stay where they are.

Speaking to the club’s official website ahead of the clash, he said: “We were obviously disappointed on Saturday because we let ourselves down and we let our supporters down.

“We’re professionals and wake up every day wanting to be the very best that we can be, so it hurts when we don’t get there. But now we have a great opportunity to respond against a Rotherham side who have been at or near the top of the table all season.

“We’re really motivated to try to put in a positive performance in front of our own fans at Fratton Park.”

The Verdict

Danny Cowley has managed to pull some good showings out of his Portsmouth side this season but recently those performances have dried up and it’s left the club in a situation where they will likely not be able to get anything from this campaign again.

It’ll be disheartening for the club’s fans, who have grown desperate to get out of the third tier but have been unable to do so since they fell out of the Championship. It just keeps seeming like an impossible task for the side and despite a top half finish looking likely, it isn’t a play-off spot and that will hurt.

They can go again and have another reshuffle over the summer and if anyone knows how to sort out a team that can challenge at the top end of the table, it is Danny Cowley. They’ll also want to really end the season on a high and get as far up the table as they can to boot.

If they can surprise everyone and beat Rotherham tonight, that will be one step in the right direction.