Danny Cowley rubbishes suggestion enforced Portsmouth’s break could hamper Blues momentum
Danny Cowley has rubbished any suggestion Pompey’s impressive League One momentum could be hampered by last weekend’s enforced break.
In fact, the Blues boss said he’s ‘not anticipating any issues’ when his side return to action against Burton tonight.
The Fratton Park outfit head to the Pirelli Stadium for their first game in 10 days, after Saturday’s trip to Barnsley was cancelled as a mark of the respect to the late Queen.
Pompey have shot out of the blocks in League One this season, winning their past five games as they remain unbeaten in the division.
Fans will be well aware of the impact a stoppage can have on momentum, though, with the Blues’ form last season hampered by a Covid-19 stoppage in December.
That saw Cowley’s men fail to win any of the six league matches that followed.
Meanwhile, their record following international breaks last term was far from impressive, with the Blues unable to win any of their immediate games upon their return.
However, the Fratton Park boss isn’t concerned by the latest enforced break.
Instead, he insists his side will benefit from it.
He told The News: ‘I don’t think this has really been a break because we only got told about it just over 24 hours before kick-off, so we prepared properly and trained on Saturday.
‘In terms of the physical demands, the work we did on Saturday was the equivalent to a match, the only real difference is we got to focus on Burton on Saturday morning rather than opposed to Monday morning.
‘In terms of our preparation for this game, we’ve been able to have 48 hours longer to prepare and are in a better place.’
Burton sit bottom of the League One table with the worst record in the top four divisions.
Yet, Cowley understands the Brewers will be tough opposition.
He continued: ‘They’ve been quite unfortunate in their start.
‘We watched them play Ipswich - who we all know are one of the best teams in the division - and they could’ve been three or four nil up at half-time, such was their dominance in that game.
‘We know that if we are not at our absolute best then we will have a really tough evening and we have to make sure that the mindset, the attitude and the work ethic is first class.
‘When we spoke about this on Saturday morning, you look around the room and know you’ve got good characters so I’m not anticipating any issues.’