With Portsmouth seemingly pulling away from their League One rivals, the dressing room will have ambitions of winning the title this season en route to promotion to the Championship. A 0-0 draw with Charlton Athletic on Saturday was enough to widen the gap by a further point after losses for both other title contenders, Derby County and Bolton Wanderers.
Pompey sit at the summit of the League One table, seven points ahead of Derby who have a game in hand. Despite already having the points on the board, there may be a worrying threat from Bolton if they win both of their games in hand with the Lancashire side currently sat just seven points behind the leaders.
However, Portsmouth players were pleased and motivated to find out that they now couldn’t be overtaken, even if Bolton win their two matches in hand. This revelation prompted Pompey star Joe Rafferty to discuss the club’s intentions from now until the end of the season knowing that the job was far from done.
Rafferty has been ever-present in the strong Portsmouth defence and has made 29 appearances in League One this season. Having joined from Championship side Preston North End last summer, the right-back has proved his worth to the club and has held down the position when fully fit. Having conceded the fewest goals this season, it is easy to see where Portsmouth’s strengths lie.
In a demanding interview about the club’s title challenge, the Irishman looked ahead to the remaining games of the 2023/24 season.
“We’ve just got to go at it, we have to get as many wins as we can. We’re in a brilliant position and we just need to maintain it.”
“I said from the start, I didn’t come here to this club to play games and do whatever. It wasn’t my intention – I came here to get promoted.”
“We’ve put ourselves in an absolutely brilliant position. We have to go out and finish it now.”
With the south-coast side having to battle hard for their 0-0 draw at Charlton, Rafferty offered his thoughts on the match and what it means for the remainder of the season.
“When you’re going for the title you haven’t got a divine right to come to places like The Valley and pick up wins.”
“This 100 per cent might be the point that gets us over the line, that could be the way we look at it come the summer. It’s doing everything now to finish the job.”
Writer’s view
Portsmouth were on the back of four emphatic wins before their trip to Charlton. Despite not grabbing all three points on Saturday, their recent form offers plenty of confidence for the team to continue to build on. However, their healthy gap at the top may be cut down significantly if Bolton and Derby can capitalise on their games in hand.
Nevertheless, with a seven point lead on the rest of the pack, Pompey have set the standard for others to follow and it looks unlikely that their recent draw will have affected their winning mentality. If anything, it was the inspiration they needed to go on and not only escape, but win the league that they’ve been stuck in since 2017.
