Portsmouth

"[Scoring in the South Coast derby was] the single best feeling in football I've had in my career. [I'm] normally in control when I've scored but that one I just remember running, shouting, swearing, screaming and I just headed straight for the fans. Total head loss."

One of Portsmouth's biggest games of the season is on the horizon.

Former Pompey midfielder and derby goalscorer David Norris joins Chris Wise and Andy Moon on the latest episode of BBC Radio Solent's Who Needs Mourinho? podcast to build up to Sunday's short trip to Southampton and reminisce about Norris' derby day memories.

Listen to the full episode of Who Needs Mourinho? on BBC Sounds

Former Portsmouth midfielder Gareth Evans believes it was inevitable Pompey's loan signing Conor Chaplin would return to the club.

Chaplin came through the Portsmouth academy to play for the first team when he turned 18.

Evans and Chaplin played alongside each other during the latter's first stint at Fratton Park, before the forward left for Coventry in 2019.

"I knew he was going to come back to the football club at some point," Evans told BBC Radio Solent.

"The only surprise is that he's come back so soon after leaving. You expected him to come back at the latter end of [his] career.

"[It's a] massive bonus for Portsmouth that they've got a Conor Chaplin who's in the prime of his career. He's scored everywhere that he's been and he's got that infectious personality that adds a little bit extra to the dressing room.

"To retain their Championship status and then top up the squad like he [boss John Mousinho] has done this transfer window with the numbers he's got in and the quality of player he's got in, who's to say Portsmouth can't aim for a mid-table finish."

Next up for Pompey is a south coast derby at St Mary's against Southampton on 14 September (12:00 BST). It's a rivalry which will be reignited in a league game for the first time in 13 years.

"I'm a little bit jealous not to be involved, it's going to be a fantastic occasion," said Evans.

"It's something to savour and hopefully Portsmouth can pick up all three points."

Southampton have not beaten Portsmouth in a league game since 2004 and Evans is predicting that run will continue.

"I'll go for 1-0 Pompey, Conor Chaplin [to score] of course," he added.

Listen to the full interview with Gareth Evans and more on Pompey on Sounds.

"The Conor Chaplin signing is an incredible move from Portsmouth in terms of a nostalgia perspective but also in the fact that they are getting a player who has played 22 times in the Premier League, and someone who will fit into the John Mousinho system.

"It is such an emotive signing and he is such a popular figure. He was really central to the Ipswich Town success story.

"Even if you take the emotion out of it, many impartial observers are looking at this deal as the best bit of business on deadline day."

Conor Chaplin has returned to Fratton Park on loan from Ipswich, seven years after he left his boyhood club, to provide additional firepower and creativity to John Mousinho's squad.

Was it the best deadline day deal conducted across the whole Championship?

BBC Radio Solent's Andrew Moon is joined by Chris Wise and Jordan Cross to discuss Pompey's late dealings in the transfer window, as well as reflecting on the win against Preston North End.

There is also your questions answered in Moon's Musings.

Tom Chappell
Fan writer from Fournilwrittenalloverit

Image source, Rex Features

It took Portsmouth until early November to register a league win at home last season. This time around, we have done it with a day left in August to spare.

A zippy pitch and testing conditions almost always spells victory at Fratton Park and the 1-0 win over Preston North End was no different. In recent seasons, Pompey have consistently settled quicker than their opposition during inclement weather, particularly on home soil.

John Mousinho's team started the much better side, a marked improvement on our last home league game when two goals were shipped within 15 minutes.

We played well for half an hour and when Andre Dozzell's goal came, it certainly went the way of the team looking the more likely to score.

Arguably Pompey's most improved player since joining the club, Dozzell has quietly shone as a top performer from the off this season.

I distinctly remember one of his first games in a blue shirt at home to Sunderland last season, where he lost a challenge in the middle with Chris Rigg and 30 seconds later the ball was in the back of the net.

He looks undeniably much more comfortable a little over 12 months on and at times has a real command of Pompey's midfield.

As the window reaches its climax, there's palpable concern that Pompey may well lose Josh Murphy following reports of interest from two Championship clubs.

I have been pretty firm since speculation began, Murphy's value to us far outweighs any offer for me - especially as late in the window as we are.

His departure would genuinely cast doubt on Pompey's chances of retaining divisional status in the Championship - he is that important to us.

And with such minimal time to look to reinvest any funds generated from his sale, the logistics and timing of it all further enhances the jeopardy. Pompey cannot afford to sell Josh Murphy. Not now.

Find more from Tom at the Fournilwrittenalloverit, external YouTube channel.

Will transfer deadline day prove to be a busy one for Southampton and Portsmouth?

Find out in our visualised two-hour special show as we follow all of your club's deadline day business. Watch here at 18:00 BST.

Alex Howell
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Portsmouth are getting closer to completing a permanent deal for Crystal Palace forward Franco Umeh.

One source who has spoken to BBC Sport suggests the fee could be around £500,000.

Umeh has been on the bench for Oliver Glaser's side on a few occasions but has not made a senior appearance for the club.

The 20-year-old joined Palace from Cork City in 2023 and has represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level.

Image source, Rex Features

The future of Portsmouth winger Josh Murphy remains uncertain heading into the final hours of the summer transfer window.

The 30-year-old has been linked with a move to Leicester City and on Saturday it emerged that Portsmouth had rejected a bid from the Foxes for their star player.

BBC Radio 5 live reporter Chris Wise said , externalthat the bid fell "quite a way short" of Pompey's valuation.

Portsmouth's stance is that he is not for sale and Blues boss John Mousinho reiterated this after Saturday's 1-0 victory over Preston which Murphy played 90 minutes in.

"The only message I've been told is he isn't for sale and I'm pretty happy with that," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent after the game.

He then jokingly said that it would take a £50m bid from Real Madrid for them to even consider selling the winger.

Last season in the Championship Murphy scored seven goals and registered 14 assists as Portsmouth secured their second-tier status.

Clubs would have until 19:00 BST on Monday to finalise any deal for the attacker's services.

Andrew Moon
BBC Radio Solent's Portsmouth commentator

Image source, Rex Features

Not a pretty spectacle or a particularly impressive performance but another victory to continue a very solid start to the season.

Pompey seem to play well in fairly short spells at present, their excellent end to the first half produced the game's only goal.

They defended resolutely in the second half albeit against a Preston team lacking quality in front of goal. Nico Schmid barely had a save to make.

Josh Murphy was far from at his best but still contributed a few key moments most notably another brilliant cross for Colby Bishop which forced an excellent save from Daniel Iversen.

Pompey simply must keep hold of him over the next 48 hours.

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho says he has been told by his recruitment team that Josh Murphy "is not for sale".

"I've switched off from all that - it's down to the recruitment team and that's ins and outs," he told BBC Radio Solent.

"The only message I've been told is he isn't for sale and I'm pretty happy with that."

Mousinho was speaking after his side's 1-0 win against Preston North End at Fratton Park.

"The performance was okay - defensively we were solid," he said.

"We just didn't really kick on after scoring the goal - when things got more difficult in the second half we didn't get it in the net and we had the chances to do so.

"Andre [Dozzell] has been great - he's grown and grown into his role at the football club."

Leicester are interested in signing Portsmouth winger Josh Murphy, 30, before Monday's transfer deadline. (Pete O'Rourke, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Friday's gossip column here.

After a win and a draw on the road, John Mousinho's Portsmouth will be looking for their first Fratton Park points of the season as they host Preston North End on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Paul Heckingbottom's side suffered their first loss of the season to Wrexham in the EFL Cup on Tuesday but remain unbeaten in the Championship with two wins and a draw, toppling Premier League returnees Leicester and Ipswich in their past two matches at Deepdale.

• Portsmouth have won just two of their past 13 league games against Preston North End (D5 L6), though one did come in this exact fixture last season via a 3-1 scoreline.

• After losing on their last visit to Fratton Park 3-1, Preston North End will be looking to avoid losing successive away league games against Portsmouth for the first time since September 1967.

• Portsmouth players have combined to win 194 duels in the Championship so far this season – the most of any side in the competition.

• Preston have failed to win any of their past eight away league games (D3 L5) and since the start of April last year, have won just three of their 29 fixtures on the road (D10 L16) – no ever-present Championship side has won fewer.

• In the Championship this season, no player has made more tackles than Preston's Ali McCann (13), whilst he's one of only six players in the competition to record 10+ tackles and 10+ ball recoveries (13).

Andre Dozzell hopes Portsmouth can ensure a "really good start" to their Championship campaign when Preston visit Fratton Park on Saturday.

The 26-year-old has played every minute of Pompey's opening three league games as the Blues began with a win at Oxford before following up the narrow home defeat by Norwich with a creditable point at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Dozzell told BBC Radio Solent: "Preston are on a high at the minute, they've just beaten Ipswich 1-0 with a solid performance.

"We're expecting a tough game but we know if we are on it, at home, with the fans behind us, coming away with three points would make it a good start to the season.

"Seven points from four games, I think that's a really good start, but it's early, we have just got to keep working hard, take it game by game."

The visit of North End is the final match before the international break, with the next fixture the hotly-anticipated trip to Southampton for the south coast derby on 12 September.

"We've got to focus on Preston but obviously Southampton is such a big game, everyone's looking forward to it," Dozzell added.

"Hopefully we can get three points on Saturday and then have the international break when we can really focus on our game plan - it's going to be a good occasion for us.

"You can feel it around the city, when Southampton came down we knew it was going to be a huge game, especially for the fans."

"I think all round it was a really good point, and a really good performance against West Brom, I'm not sure you can ask much more from the team.

"If you think a year ago Pompey would go to those games and, yes, they got early draws against Leeds and Middlesbrough but let's be honest they were complete flukes."

Is it too early to talk about the Championship table?

Chris Wise joins Andy Moon to discuss Portsmouth's positive start to the season as they stopped West Brom making it three wins out of three last weekend.

There's also a look at the transfer window and of course your questions answered in Moon's Musings.

Listen to the full episode of Who Needs Mourinho and more on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Rex Features

Portsmouth have further subsidised the cost of coach travel for fans heading to the 'high risk' south coast derby at Southampton on 14 September.

The fixture will be the first between the sides at St Mary's in more than 13 years with the only more recent meeting between the bitter rivals an EFL Cup tie at Fratton Park six years ago.

Blues fans must use club-managed travel to get to and from St Mary's for the 12:00 BST Sunday kick-off and the club have decided to cover the full damage insurance costs for coach operators rather than passing the cost on to fans.

A club statement, external said: "We are conscious of the high cost of attending this much anticipated contest for our supporters.

"The price of travelling to the game has been exacerbated by damage insurance costs for coach operators for what is a high-risk fixture.

"The club had already absorbed the cost of the added facilities that are required, as well as a proportion of these damage insurance costs, but after careful consideration we have decided to subsidise these additional damage insurance costs in full."

The move will drop the price of coach travel down £4.50 per person to £18.

Tom Chappell
Fan writer

Image source, Rex Features

Pompey were good value for, and fully deserved, their point at The Hawthorns.

A magical Josh Murphy ball with postage stamp delivery for Colby Bishop, a first-class combination that is just vintage John Mousinho's Pompey.

One of the best headers I've seen the man with the magic hat score in a Pompey shirt, and probably Pompey's best performance of the season.

I remember making the same walk out of the away end at The Hawthorns in January completely dejected and pitying what Pompey had served up that day.

This weekend we departed with real optimism and plenty of signs of progress to take.

Much may be made of the refereeing performance from a Baggies point of view - there's respective arguments for both a penalty against Pompey and a second yellow for Regan Poole.

Pompey were completely luckless with decisions from officials for a large part of last season so it's pleasing to see that somewhat fall our way.

After the goal, the substitutions positively impacted proceedings, with Luke Le Roux's introduction in particular catching the eye.

This Pompey squad is providing us with evidence that it is good enough to compete with some of the league's better sides away from home.

Take any away game last season, and without wishing to constantly compare and contrast, nine times out of 10 at 1-1 away from home Pompey would come away with absolutely nothing to show from the game.

This weekend, and a fortnight ago at the Kassam, the boys dug in, stayed switched on and ultimately emerged with the point.

Belief is often a keynote to Mousinho's press conferences, and if we can get that mindset right then we could well be competing with interest sooner rather than later. We've certainly got the talents on the pitch to do it.

There may be few teams who travel to West Brom and get anything from there this season - and depending on how the campaign develops, that point could prove to be even bigger than it already feels.

The countdown begins for one of the most anticipated away fixtures of this club's recent history - before that, an inaugural home league win would round off a more than acceptable opening month of Pompey's 25-26 season.

Find more from Tom at the Fournilwrittenalloverit, external YouTube channel