'It isn't good enough' - Fratton Park legend shares honest assessment of Portsmouth squad as Championship credentials questioned after Sheffield Wednesday defeat

With the Fratton Park outfit bottom of the table with just one win from 12 league outings, questions about the side’s Championship quality are being asked time and time again.

Friday night’s home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday - Pompey’s sixth in the division already this term - kick-started the latest discussion.

Now Blues legend Whittingham has offered his opinion - and it’s clear he also has major doubts on the number of players within the Fratton Park ranks who are currently capable of operating in the second tier of English football.

The Blues went into Friday night’s game against the Owls with another depleted squad due to injuries. And while the former Blues striker has sympathy in that respect, he believes the squad lacks the depth to cope. 

Speaking on BBC Radio Solent after the 2-1 defeat to the Owls, Whittingham said: ‘John Mousinho hasn’t been able to pick a team that’s probably anywhere near what he thinks is his best due to those injuries. Again, three picked up in midweek at Cardiff and he’s had to change things around today (Friday), so again, it’s different combinations. 

‘But you’ve got to deal with those things at this level. There’s no forgiveness whatsoever, nobody’s going to be: “okay, we’ll not play so well against you today or we won’t run you into the ground today because you’ve got injuries”. 

‘You just have to get on with it and you have to go into the squad. And that might be the area where, you know, you look at the squad and it isn’t good enough at this moment in time.’

Whittingham used Pompey’s midfield against Wednesday to underline his point, as skipper Marlon Pack was demoted to the bench.

He said: ‘If you look at that midfield three, you’ve got (Christian) Saydee who came from Bournemouth last year, who doesn’t start every game and is really a No9; you’ve got (Andre) Dozzell who wasn’t signed again by QPR; and you’ve got a player on loan from West Ham (Freddie Potts) for his first year in the Championship.

‘That’s our midfield and that might be one of the issues. We’re playing with players who haven’t got the experience.’

Pompey brought in 15 new players over the summer in preparation for their Championship return and said goodbye to 14 who helped them secure the League One title last season.

Few of those new arrivals, if any, have really demonstrated they’re an improvement on what was previously at Fratton Park. And while Whttingham acknowledges the success Pompey’s recruitment team has had in recent years, he claims the step up to Championship competition is proving challenging for some on match days.

He added: ‘We are where we are with the players and I know that John Mousinho and Rich Hughes will have got the best players they could have done because that’s their track record, that’s what they’ve done in the past. 

‘But it is a significant step up for these players.’