Portsmouth could not have wished for a better start to the campaign, winning six and drawing three of their opening 10 league games.
A 94th-minute equaliser from Reeco Hackett against Plymouth extended Pompey’s unbeaten start to nine games, but they missed out on the chance of going 10 matches without a defeat when they faced Ipswich Town last Saturday.
Portsmouth looked set to salvage a point after coming from behind on a couple of occasions at Portman Road thanks to Colby Bishop, who scored two penalties, but within a minute of Bishop celebrating his second effort of the game, Wes Burnsscored what proved to be the winner, condemning Pompey to a 3-2 defeat.
They bounced back on Tuesday with a comprehensive 5-0 victory over Aston Villa Under 21s in the EFL Trophy, and they will look to build upon their midweek performance against Fleetwood.
Danny Cowley’s side head into the weekend with six points separating them from the top two, but with two games in hand, they will be confident of closing that gap, and they will also be hopeful of claiming a positive result on Saturday as they look to maintain their unbeaten home record in League One.
Meanwhile, Fleetwood have proven to be a tough team to beat this season, having lost only two of their 11 league games.
However, seven draws in that period has slightly halted their progress, leaving them in 12th place with 15 points to their name.
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With five points separating them from the top six, the playoff places are very much in sight for Fleetwood, who will be looking to claim consecutive victories after beating Burton Albion last weekend to record their third win of the League One season
Harvey Macadam’s 34th-minute effort proved to be enough to guide Scott Brown’s side to consecutive away victories, ensuring that the Cod Army are unbeaten on their travels since losing to Port Vale on the opening weekend of the campaign.
Having lost only one of their previous 10 league games, and currently unbeaten in their last four away trips in League One, Fleetwood will believe that they have the quality to clinch a positive result
