All you need to know ahead of Pompey's visit
Luton Town v Portsmouth
Sky Bet League 2
Saturday 29th August 2015, kick-off 3pm
Official live online commentary on Hatters Player
• Town looking for first league win of the season
• Portsmouth unbeaten in League 2 (W2, D2)
• Both sides exited League Cup on Tuesday
• Hatters without Dan Potts and Nathan Doyle
• Town won 27 of 39 home meetings with Pompey
• 9,000+ crowd expected at Kenilworth Road
TICKETS. Fancying coming the game? Well, tickets for the match against Pompey are now on sale at the ticket office at category A prices, details of which can be found here. Please note there are no cash turnstiles available for this match. Read more about how to buy tickets here. Portsmouth sold their 1,000 allocation within the space of a few days two weeks ago.
WHO? Portsmouth, aka, Pompey, become the second visitors to Kenilworth Road for Sky Bet League 2 action whey make the trip up from Fratton Park this weekend. The biggest club in the division, who won the FA Cup as recently as 2008, are now in their third season in the fourth tier. In 2013 they became the largest fan-owed club in England after Pompey Supporters Trust successfully gained possession of Fratton Park.
IN CHARGE. Pompey persuaded Paul Cook to leave Chesterfield for Fratton Park this summer in a bid to finally get the club out of League 2. Cook, who is best remembered for his playing days with spells at Wigan, Wolves and Burnley, enjoyed an excellent record in charge of Chesterfield. He guided the Spireites to the League 1 title in 2014 – the same season in which they reached the JPT final. Cook then helped the Derbyshire outfit to within one place of the League 1 Play-Off places.
THIS SEASON. As with every season Portsmouth play at this level, a weight of expectation is heaped on the staff and players at the South Coast club. With Cook’s credentials, they are possibly fancied even more to do well. With Matt Tubbs a proven goalscorer at this level he should continue to fire home the goals, but Cook has recruited well too this summer with the additions of Burton’s Adam McGurk and Chesterfield winger Gary Roberts two signings of real intent.
PREVIOUS FORM. Pompey have begun the season in good form, opening the campaign with a 3-0 win over Dagenham & Redbridge and earning an excellent 2-1 win away from home at Plymouth. However since those victories they have drawn their last two league games, 0-0 at Crawley and 3-3 at home to Morecambe – a game they trailed 3-0. Cook’s side also dumped out a full-strength Derby team of the Capital One Cup but lost to Reading in the second round on Tuesday in front of 18,000 at Fratton Park.
HATTERS MATTERS. The Hatters will be aiming to continue an excellent record over Portsmouth on home soil that has seen the Town win 27 of the 39 meetings in Bedfordshire. That’s an impressive win percentage of 69 per cent. Pompey have won just six times here, the last back in 1992. That 4-1 victory was Pompey’s first in 70 years. Last season the both sides drew 1-1 at Kenilworth Road but Portsmouth earned a 2-0 win in the return fixture at Fratton Park in March. The last time the Hatters beat Pompey was a 3-1 win at Kenilworth Road in 1995 with Steve Davis, Dwight Marshall and Bontcho Guentchev on target.
TOWN TEAM NEWS. that Olly Lee is likely to be rested after coming through 120 minutes on his debut against Stoke. Alex Lawless is back in training after recovering from illness, while Magnus Okuonghae is nearing match fitness and will be involved in a development game next week.Thursday press conference The Town will remain without the services of Nathan Doyle and Dan Potts for Saturday’s game with both players recovering from hamstring strains. John Still explained at his
FINAL WHISTLE NOTICE. With over 1,000 Pompey fans expected in the Oak Road Stand on Saturday, supporters fans can expect a large police presence around the stadium. To maintain a full segregation of Oak Road at the final whistle, large barriers will be deployed at the top of Oak Road, which will be dismantled as soon as possible after the visiting coaches have departed back to Portsmouth, to enable home fans both vehicular and pedestrian access to the immediate vicinity of the stadium. We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause home fans but seek your full co-operation as we seek to work with the police to provide a safe and secure environment for everyone using the stadium on Saturday.
LIVE AND ONLINE. subscribers will be able to listen to live commentary from just before 3pm with Simon Pitts in the press box. Post-match, remember to check out the official website, YouTube channel and Player for reports, interviews and photographs and don’t forget to tune in from midday on Sunday for all the highlights in glorious HD!Hatters Player for photos, videos and all the behind-the-scenes action. YouTube and Instagram, Twitter, Facebook As ever, we’ll be reporting live from Kenilworth Road. Build-up starts at noon, so get on our early blog on the Wall for all the latest updates. Follow us on