All you need to know ahead of the trip to Fratton Park
Portsmouth v Luton Town
Sky Bet League 2
Monday 28th December 2015, kick-off 3pm
Live commentary on Hatters Player
• Final game of 2015
• Town lost five of last six in all competitions
• Portsmouth fourth in League 2
• Caretaker boss Andy Awford returns to former club
• Pompey lost once at home
• Andy Cook’s side conceded least on home turf (7)
• Hatters joint-leading away goalscorers (21)
Portsmouth, aka Pompey, are the Town’s next port of call. Paul Cook, who took over in the summer, has helped Pompey enjoy one of their best seasons in recent years. The side have been flirting with the automatic promotions places since the campaign began in August and remain well-positioned to mount a serious challenge for the top three. On Boxing Day they were beaten 3-2 at fellow promotion chasers Leyton Orient.WHO?
With a capacity of 20,700, Fratton Park is the largest stadium in League 2. It’s all-seater these days and Town supporters will be, like last season, situated in the Milton End behind the goal. It’s a covered stand with a reasonable view of the playing action, but it used to be a terrace so the legroom’s a tad stingy. WHERE?
All tickets are now off sale with none available on the day at Fratton Park. Just over 1,500 tickets were sold in advance from the ticket office.TICKETS.
It’s approximately 100 miles from Kenilworth Road to Fratton Park. Take the M1 south, M25 anti-clockwise and A3 south before turning onto the M27 (ignoring the M275 turn off for Portsmouth town centre). Continue on to the A27 and at the junction with the A2030 turn right towards Southsea/Fratton. Continue straight along the A2030 and eventually you will see the ground in front of you, just slightly to your left.HOW TO GET THERE?
The Hatters lost the meeting at Kenilworth Road in August and the Town have won just five of their previous 38 visits to Fratton Park, losing the last six including last season’s 2-0 defeat. The Hatters’ last victory at Portsmouth came courtesy of a 2-0 win in September 1975 with Andy King and Adrian Alston on target before a crowd of 9,835.HAVEN’T WE MET BEFORE?
Town caretaker boss Andy Awford makes his first return to Fratton Park since he joined the Hatters. Awford made 362 appearances for Pompey in over 10 years as a player on the South Coast. The 43-year-old was twice in caretaker charge before taking over permanently last season. He was in charge of Portsmouth the last time the Town went to Fratton Park in March.AWFORD RETURN.
Awford could make changes following the Boxing Day defeat at home to Wycombe. Jonathan Smith returned to the bench in that game and could feature, while defender Luke Wilkinson remains a doubt with a hamstring injury.TOWN TEAM NEWS.
Gavin Ward takes charge of his second match involving the Hatters this season having overseen the 2-1 defeat at Crawley back in October. In the 18 matches this season he has shown just two red cards and shown 65 yellows. Gavin once abandoned a Town match in 2008 after just five minutes against Bournemouth at Kenilworth Road.REF WATCH.
As ever, we’ll be reporting live from Fratton Park. Build-up starts at midday, so get on our early blog on the Wall for all the latest updates.LIVE AND ONLINE.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for photos, videos and all the behind-the-scenes action. Hatters Player 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 Tuesday for all the highlights in glorious HD.