'It will be a fight, it will be loud' - Blackburn boss wary of what lies in wait for his team at Portsmouth

Blackburn boss Valerien Ismael expects a hostile atmosphere will greet his players when they walk out onto the pitch at Fratton Park today.

Along with a determined Blues side, the Rovers manager believes the home faithful will try to make life for the visitors as difficult as possible as they do their bit to help John Mousinho’s side end a run of three consecutive defeats and one win in 10.

But the Frenchman believes his side possesses the quality to ride out the storm - if they do the basics right when the Fratton faithful are at their most vocal.

Pompey v Blackburn - two teams struggling at wrong end of table

Five points separate Pompey and Blackburn at the bottom end of the table.

The Blues, who sit 22nd and inside the Championship relegation zone, have accumulated just 17 points from a possible 57 this season to date, with only 11 from a possible 30 coming at Fratton Park after five PO4 defeats already this term.

Rovers have had a similarly frustrating opening four months of the season, with Ismael’s side 20th on 22 points.

Five of their six Championship wins have come on the road, however. And with Blackburn unbeaten away from Ewood Park since defeat to league leaders Coventry in mid-October, he believes his players possessive the confidence that will keep their momentum going in a difficult environment and to add to Pompey’s misery.

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Blackburn ready for what awaits them at Fratton Park

‘It’s a difficult away game, Portsmouth,’ Ismael told RoversTV ahead of heading to the south coast.

‘It will be a fight, it will be loud, but we are ready, we are travelling well and our goal is to keep our momentum going and to give ourselves the chance to fight for the three points.

‘We’ll need everything when it comes to the basics of football - the duels, the second balls, the intensity.

‘After all of that, we’ll see our quality and see if we can make the difference at the right moments.

‘We know we have the quality, we know that we will create chances, but we have to be ruthless.

‘The reward for the boys after the game is that we will be able to have a week without a game and a breather.

‘It’s the final push to try and keep the momentum going, to try and stay unbeaten and to have another positive result.’

For your next Pompey read: 'It's gone beyond the point' - Portsmouth boss acknowledges Fratton faithful frustrations ahead of huge game against Blackburn Rovers