Baggies faithful out in force again for crucial trip to Portsmouth

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·30 January 2026

Baggies faithful out in force again for crucial trip to Portsmouth

Portsmouth v West Bromwich Albion; Fratton Park, Saturday 31st January 2026, 3pm

Eric Ramsay’s team travel to the south coast for what, to all intents and purposes, is a massive relegation six-pointer at Fratton Park, backed by yet another sell out away end. However, while victory would give one side a massive boost to take into the remainder of the season, defeat is not irrecoverable given thhat there is still more than a third of the campaign to play. For the Albion players, however, a poor performance would cast serious doubts on their ability to drag themselves out of trouble.

Norwich City’s unexpected win over league leaders Coventry City on Monday evening has seen the Baggies drop to 20th place in the Championship, their lowest position of the season and, indeed, their lowest spot since Carlos Corberán dragged the team up the table in November 2022.

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Ramsay stuck to his guns at Derby last Friday and kept with his preferred back three, albeit it does seem to mould into a back four when in possession. George Campbell certainly looked well suited to the formation while one of the key reasons for an improved performance was the return to the starting line up of both Jayson Molumby and Ousmane Diakkité. The Malian, in particular, put in a strong performance after what has been a very difficult time for him and his family.

Unfortunately, while a return to fitness for some players was a positive, both Karlan Grant and Krystian Bielik were forced off with new injuries. It has subsequently emerged that Grant will be out for several months and may not play again this season – that is especially disappointing for one of Albion’s strongest performers in recent weeks whose contract expires in the summer. Bielik, meanwhile, remains a doubt for the Fratton Park encounter.

Isaac Price was once again employed at right wing back at Pride Park, a position that doesn’t maximise his abilities, but Friday morning saw the loan signing of Danny Imray from Crystal Palace. The 22-year-old has been playing in exactly that position for League One Blackpool for the first half of the season, registering two goals and two assists in his last seven league games, while he was voted the Young Player of the Season at League Two Bromley last season, again playing as a right wing back, scoring two and assisting seven over the campaign. The Championship obviously represents a step up, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him put straight into the fray at Portsmouth. That may well see Johnston switching to the left and Price moving forward to support Heggebø given the absence of Grant.

Pompey have had a difficult season spending most of it in and around the bottom three. They have, however, had an improvement in results of late losing only one of their last eight league games – that was a 5-0 thumping at Bristol City on New Year’s Day, but they earned a creditable draw with local rivals Southampton last weekend and have beaten relegation rivals Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic and Blackburn Rovers since mid-December.

Goalscoring remains a problem for John Mousinho’s team – only rock-bottom Sheffield Wednesday have scored fewer than Portsmouth’s 24 goals this season, but they do have two games in hand over Albion, the first of which is against Ipswich Town this coming Tuesday. They are also having to contend with something on an injury crisis with ten men on the treatment table and a few others playing on with knocks, but Mousinho has been able to boost the squad with four new signings this month.

It is undoubtedly a massive match at a venue that has been kind to Albion over the years, as you can read below. With a full week on the training ground, Ramsay’s influence needs to bear fruit and, with a little luck, the Baggies can produce a first away league victory since early October.

History

Albion haven’t been beaten by Portsmouth since that most painful of defeats at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final in 2008. Both meetings in the Premier League the following season finished all square, while when both clubs found themselves in the second tier once again last season, the Baggies completed the league double with an aggregate score of 8-1. However, the clubs drew 1-1 when they met earlier this season at the Hawthorns.

This is not, of course, the first time the Baggies have been desperate for a victory over Portsmouth to ease relegation fears. Pompey were, of course, Albion’s opponents on the final day of the season in 2005 when Bryan Robson’s team completed the Great Escape and, eleven years earlier, Keith Brukinshaw’s team avoided a return to the third tier with a 1-0 win at Fratton Park thanks to a goal from Lee Ashcroft, known fondly as “Peggy” by the Albion faithful.

However, on neither of those occasions were Portsmouth themselves in danger of relegation. In 1996, however, Albion travelled to the south coast in late March sitting in 19th spot and were three points behind Terry Fenwick’s Portsmouth. The Richard Sneekes effect was just kicking in and his double earned the visitors all three points and they went on to secure an eleventh-placed finish – Pompey, on the other hand, needed a 1-0 win at Huddersfield Town on the final day to secure their own escape from the drop sending Millwall down on goal difference.

In contrast to Albion’s last away game, Fratton Park is a venue that the Baggies have enjoyed visiting over the years. Indeed, it is one of the few away grounds where they have won more often than they have lost earning victories 18 times in 40 visits in all competitions. Pompey have won just two of the last thirteen league meetings between the sides and the last time they beat Albion at home in the second tier was in March 2000.

Gary Megson had taken over in mid-March but, after a winning his first game at Stockport County, the Baggies lost the next three, the second of which was at Fratton Park. Tony Pulis was in charge at Pompey in those days and a penalty from Steve Claridge and a late goal from Shaun Derry earned the hosts the win with Albion ending the match with ten men after Matt Carbon was dismissed.