Pompey head to Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane looking for their first win there since 1955.

John Mousinho has been left surprised by Sheffield United’s start to the 2025-26 Championship season.

But the Pompey boss, who takes his team to Bramall Lane on Wednesday night, is convinced the Blades’ current position of 22nd after 11 defeats in 16 league games is a false one.

Indeed, Mousinho believes Chris Wilder’s side will be nowhere near relegation trouble come the end of the campaign. Rather, he’s predicting a promotion push from last season’s beaten play-off finalists - despite being 12 points off the pace at present.

John Mousinho shows his respect for Sheffield United

Mousinho will, of course, be hoping such a climb up the rankings does not come at the expense of his team, who picked up their first win in seven games with a 3-1 success over Millwall on Saturday.

That helped the 19th-placed Blues open up a seven-point advantage over Sheffield United, who remain the side most likely to emerge from the bottom three. However, that gap was once again reduced to four following the Blades’ 3-0 win over city rivals Wednesday on Sunday.

The Pompey boss was impressed with what he saw from Wilder’s side at Hillsborough. It reaffirmed to him that Wednesday night’s game at Bramall Lane will be a tough examination.

He and his player will be trying their best to blunt the Blades’ current momentum. And if successful, it won’t impact his belief that his side’s next opponents retain enough quality to get themselves well clear of trouble.

When asked by The News if United’s current position is a false one, Mousinho responded: ‘Yeah, definitely.

‘They won’t be in the relegation reckoning come the end of the season. I’d be very surprised if they don’t make it to the play-offs. They’ve got the squad, the manager, the coaching staff and everything in between.

‘No-one is under any illusions they’ve had a really, really poor start to the season by their standards, particularly after finishing third last year, but they’re going to pick up points at some point and we’ve seen evidence of that already.

‘But for us on Wednesday night, we are treating it as we always would if we are away to Sheffield United - and it’s a very tough league fixture.’

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Games coming thick and fast for Pompey

Pompey’s last win at Bramall Lane came in 1955, with no wins coming in the 26 fixtures they’ve played there since.

That doesn’t bode well for the Blues, who lost 2-1 at S2 last season. And Mousinho believes his players - fresh from a win against promotion-chasing Millwall - shouldn’t underestimate the challenge that lies in wait.

‘They (the games) come thick and fast in the Championship and there’s definitely no easy games,’ Mousinho added.

‘We’ve seen that over the past how many months, the past 16 months since we’ve been back at the level, and Sheffield United is definitely not one of those easy games .

‘I think they are one of the sides that, based on the evidence at the weekend. are properly in form.

‘There’s been a little bit of time to reflect (on Saturday’s win against Millwal) and I do want to take the positives from the game, for them (the players) to feel very, very good about themselves, I want them to feel confident going into Wednesday, but also realistic about the challenge that lies head.’

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