Portsmouth Championship status confirmed despite heavy defeat at Coventry
Pompey have retained their Championship status
It’s official - Pompey will be playing Championship football next season.
Despite losing 5-1 to now confirmed champions Coventry City on Tuesday night, the Blues have retained their place in the second tier for another year following one result elsewhere in the division.
Regardless of what happened to John Mousinho’s side at The CBS Arena, the Fratton Park outfit knew their Championship status would be secured if third-from-bottom Oxford United failed to beat Wrexham at the Kassam Stadium.
And that’s exactly what happened as Josh Windass’ solitary strike on 40 minutes was enough to seal all three points for the play-off-chasing Dragons.
With the U’s seven points adrift of Pompey going into the game, they needed maximum points if they wanted to overtake the Blues in the final league table.
That’s not possible now, despite Pompey’s defeat to Coventry seeing them drop to 19th in the standings. Indeed, Mousinho & Co have been overtaken by WBA in the table following their 3-0 home win against Watford.
The Blues remain seven points above the bottom three with two games remaining - against Stoke (A) and Birmingham (H) respectively.
That leaves Oxford, Blackburn and Charlton in a three-way battle to avoid the one remaining relegation spot, after Leicester’s relegation to League One was confirmed following their 2-2 draw with Hull City.
They’ll now join Sheffield Wednesday in the third tier next season.
For your next Pompey read: Neil Allen’s Blues player ratings following 5-1 defeat at Coventry.