'Mammoth task' as Portsmouth battle to avoid double relegation season
Pompey Women are rooted to the foot of the table after four wins this season
It’s two Pompey sides and two tense relegation battles as the football season nears its conclusion.
And Pompey Women boss Jay Sadler has warned of a ‘mammoth task’ with his team rapidly running out of matches to avoid the drop.
A 1-0 defeat to Sunderland last Sunday in front of 1,293 at Fratton Park leaves the Women’s Super League 2 side rooted to the foot of the table on goal difference.
With one relegation spot on offer, just one point separates the bottom four sides - Pompey, Ipswich, Sheffield United and Durham in a congested battle to survive.
Crucially, however, their rivals possess at least one game in hand. And, with just three fixtures remaining ahead of next Sunday’s crucial trip to relegation rivals Sheffield United, Sadler acknowledges time is running out.
‘It’s going to be difficult’
He told The News: ‘It’s all to play for, the difference is we’ve only got three games and some of the teams around us have four or five. We have to rely on results to go our way as well as picking up points ourselves.
‘The league has improved 10-fold, it’s way more competitive, and, if you have an off-moment, teams will punish you more. Every team in the relegation battle has quality and has quality to pick up points and win games of football.
‘However, the difficulty is we are bottom with three games played and teams around us have more matches left, our goal difference is inferior to the teams around us too. When you look at the games, it’s going to be difficult.
‘Sunday was an opportunity and we didn't take it - now we’ve got to get points off Sheffield United, Forest and Palace who are all competing for something themselves.
‘It’s still going to be a mammoth task. I still have the belief we can do it, but obviously as the games and weeks edge closer to the end of the season, that realism kicks in.
‘When you look back at the season, the big games were Ipswich and Durham, where we didn’t get any points. We haven’t taken points in and around us, which we did last season.
‘Instead we’re taking points off teams at the top end of the table, which is a surprise, beating Charlton and drawing to Bristol City.
‘We’ve only three matches left now, we need things to go our way as well. The Great Escape last year was based on our bravery, our resilience, our determination where we got points and not relying on others.
‘We know now we need to focus on Sheffield United, it’s a massive, massive game.’
Both Pompey teams in relegation trouble
Pompey and Pompey Women both won their divisions in 2023-24 to take their place in the second tiers of their respective leagues.
Now, two years later, John Mousinho’s team are one place above the Championship relegation zone with eight games remaining - and the Women are bottom.
Now it’s onto Sheffield United on Sunday, with their hosts having won just three of their 17 matches so far, with a 2-1 loss at Birmingham last weekend.
Sadler added: ‘Obviously what we need now is points. I wasn’t happy with how we started against Sunderland at all.
‘We were the team coming off the back of a good week and they had four games in 10 days, yet I felt they wanted it more. First balls and second balls were all Sunderland - and I ask why.
‘We didn’t get to grips with how we were going to press them, we were a little off it and then, in the second half, we changed a few things around, we created some moments, but unfortunately it was too big a mountain to climb at 1-0.’