‘This is not good, dreading it already’: Controversial referee to take charge of critical Portsmouth Championship showdown with Watford

And that has got Blues fans concerned about the potential for the maligned official to have a negative impact on their bid for Championship survival at a critical moment in the campaign.

Allison has been confirmed as the man in the middle at Fratton Park, with refereeing appointments now announced for the next two games.

And the ref, who is now in his fifth season taking charge of games of EFL, is someone who has previously been very conspicuous when overseeing Pompey fixtures.

That was certainly the case when former Blues boss Danny Cowley launched an exasperated tirade on Allison’s performance, when taking charge of Pompey’s EFL Trophy draw at Crawley in 2022.

Cowley branded Allison’s showing ‘one of the worst displays of refereeing that I have seen’, after awarding two penalties - one after slipping - in the 2-2 draw.

The decisions given that night drew laughter from both benches at Broadfield Stadium, with Cowley making his feelings know to the man who’s overseen Premier League games in the car park after the game.

He said of Allison after the game: ‘I think that was one of the worst displays of refereeing that I have seen.

‘I like him, he’s a really nice man, I don’t like saying this, but I’m just telling you the truth about what I think – and I feel I should say it because I love football and we have to do better

‘The FA have to do better, the EFL have to do better, this is such a shame, all these people come here and the game is just farcical

‘The referee falls over in the middle of the pitch, he slips over. Okay these things happen, he gets in the way of our midfield player, can’t pick up the second ball, then doesn’t blow his whistle and regain his composure and stop the game.

‘He then lets the play carry on and gives the softest of penalties – it’s a completely soft penalty.

‘He has already given them a penalty in the first half which I thought was soft. He has then given them another penalty in injury time and I just thought that incident summed up his performance.

‘I thought he was really bad for both teams. We were all laughing, none of us knew what he was going to give next, we didn’t know which way he was going to go.’

Pompey fans’ fear for Watford

Fast forward to this February and it was Allison who was again the talking point, in Pompey’s 1-0 defeat to relegation rivals Luton at Kenilworth Road.

Blues fans were fuming penalties weren't awarded for handball against Kal Naismith and a foul on Christian Saydee, while Hatters fans felt Jordan Clark was denied a spot-kick with Allison hit in the face by a clearance.

In the interests of fairness, it should be noted Allison has refereed Pompey games over the years which have attracted less controversy.

The cousin of former Blues midfielder Fitzroy Simpson has overseen eight Blues games with two wins, four draws and two defeats arriving in that time.

Pompey fans have aired their concerns on social media over what could unfold on Monday, however, with @officialfournil saying on X: ‘Already having horrible visions of Sam Allison giving a dodgy penalty in the 95th minute and half the Watford squad do a Fortnite dance in front of the Fratton End.’

Meanwhile, @daniel_son79 said ‘This is not good’, with @jeffharris_665 adding ‘I'm dreading it already’.

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