Sky Sports pundit’s Blackburn Rovers v Portsmouth call as former Southampton man makes relegation showdown prediction
It’s being billed as a huge Championship relegation occasion at Ewood Park on Saturday by the EFL pundit.
Sky Sports pundit David Prutton believes Pompey are ‘bang in trouble’ in the fight for Championship survival.
And the EFL expert is billing their clash with relegation rivals Blackburn Rovers as a huge showdown for second-tier survival this season.
Prutton believes both teams can strike a big psychological blow against their opponent this weekend, as well as pick up huge points in the battle to remain in the division.
John Mousinho’s side are a single place and point above Rovers going into the game, with five points separating the Blues from Leicester City in the final relegation berth.
The home side picked up a couple of wins after Michael O’Neill arrived as Valerien Ismael’s successor, before suffering back-to-back losses against Bristol City and Derby County.
Pompey have echoed that form, as they delivered two big away successes at Charlton Athletic and Millwall, before falling to reverses at Wrexham and then at home to Hull City.
Now the pair clash in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off on Sky Sports Football (12.30pm), with Prutton seeing the Blues still firmly ‘in the thick’ of the relegation conversation.
The former Southampton and Nottingham Forest man is talking up the size of the occasion as he made his prediction, with Pompey looking for first success on Blackburn’s turf for 19 years.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Essential EFL podcast, Prutton said: ‘We’ve spoken about the injuries that John Mousinho has got to deal with.
‘When we spoke about those back-to-back wins against Charlton and Millwall, they might have felt there was some clear daylight between themselves and the bottom three.
Sky Sports EFL expert makes Blackburn v Pompey prediction
‘But the last two results against Wrexham and Hull City show they are still very much in the thick of it all.
‘Blackburn again, you’ve got two teams with a very similar recent record.
‘Michael O’Neill potentially gave them that bump, which we saw in the first game against Preston. But it’s going to take a heck of a job from the manager to make sure they get to safety.
‘His team are there by virtue of what they’ve done this season. Yes, he’s got a short amount of time to make sure he can sort it out but, let’s be honest, you’ve got two teams there that are absolutely bang in trouble and are very, very close to each other in the division.
‘I’m not saying it’s a six pointer, but it’s a very, very big game - not just for points reasons but mentally can they strike a blow on a near opponent who’s vying for safety?
‘It’s a four-and-a-half pointer - 2-2.’