'Can't be an excuse' - Stoke City boss Mark Robins' blunt message to players ahead of trip to Portsmouth

Mark Robins wants his Stoke City players to rise to the challenge of back-to-back Championship away games when they take on Pompey at Fratton Park this lunchtime.

The Potters boss doesn’t want two long-haul trips in the space of five days to be an excuse when his players enter the field of play at PO4.

Stoke, who sit sixth in the table, travel to the south coast after taking on Millwall in the capital on Tuesday night. That visit ended in a 2-0 defeat to Alex Neil’s side and left Robins & Co without a win from their past four away games.

Pompey also suffered defeat on Tuesday night when they played host to league leaders Coventry City, Yet the EFL fixture computer has been kind to them on this occasion, with that home game immediately followed by another Fratton match-day.

Robins has refused to crticise anyone for his side’s current schedule. Instead, he asking his players to meet the challenge head on and reminded them that the Stoke supporters have also had to cope with two consecutive away games.

Speaking on the Potters’ official website, the former Manchester United forward said: ‘It can't be an excuse. We have got to go down there and perform like we know we can.

‘Supporters have travelled that distance as well, then gone to work on the back of it, which is incredible.

‘This is part of the calendar, and this is why we talk about the Championship being tough because the level of the game is high all the time.

‘The intensity, the frequency of the games, but also the challenges with the logistics are there as well.

‘We have to try and meet it head on; there are always issues to try and navigate and we will do that.

‘We're looking forward to it; we're all focused on the game and getting a better performance than we did on Tuesday.

‘It’s against a really good Portsmouth team that are high intensity and really well supported.

‘The atmosphere at Fratton Park is always boisterous and partisan and tomorrow will be no different.’

Pompey are yet to play back-to-back away games in the space of a few days this season - however, that challenge is on it’s way.

Before Christmas, the Blues travel to Charlton on Saturday, December 6, before they head to Swansea on Tuesday, December 9.

The same issues arises in January with a game at Sheffield Wednesday (Saturday, January 17) immediately followed by a midweek trip to Watford (Wednesday, January 24).

Similar schedules then follow in February, March and April.

On three occasions last season Pompey lost back-to-back away games when they included a midweek fixture.

Last October saw them win at QPR, only to lose at Cardiff a few days later. November’s draw at Hull was then followed by a televised Tuesday night defeat at Plymouth.

For your next Pompey read: Portsmouth v Stoke City: Early team and injury news as 13 out and 2 doubts for lunchtime contest