'Done' - Portsmouth sign defender ahead of Millwall visit as Sheffield Wednesday exit 'unlikely'
Portsmouth have agreed their latest January transfer ahead of Millwall’s visit to Fratton Park
Millwall will look to build on their win over Luton Town when they travel to Portsmouth in their next Championship outing on Tuesday evening. The original fixture between the clubs was due to take place at the end of November but it was postponed after a power failure meant the floodlights could not be turned on at Fratton Park.
Pompey were hammered 5-1 by West Brom in their latest outing and sit 21st in the Championship, two points above the bottom three. They have played a game fewer than the sides around them, however. Millwall are 16th in the table on 34 points - seven points above the relegation places.
Saturday’s win over Luton was the first for Alex Neil in the Championship since his arrival, as Mihailo Ivanovic scored the only goal of the game. Neil reflected: “I thought we played some really good football at times. Naturally it’s going to be a bit scrappy, obviously coming to Kenilworth Road is always difficult, but I thought the players were sensational, the performances across the pitch were excellent. We lost our goalkeeper, lost our left winger, we’re already light in numbers, so for the lads to do what they did today speaks volumes of the character and togetherness of the squad.
“The performance itself, the victory, the manner of how we did it, we had to dig in, you’ve got to make sure you win the battles and we did that. I think strikers feed off confidence and chances. He’s (Ivanovic) not started loads of games this season, he’s been much more prominent recently. He’s scored a few goals, scored in the cup, missed a few chances in the cup, scored a great goal today, had another great chance later on, so as a centre forward you can’t ask for much more than that. It’s a tough gig here, he had to lead the line, battle with two centre backs but when that chance presents itself that’s what you’re here to do and his quality was brilliant.”
Pompey complete deal for defender
Ahead of Tuesday’s visit of Millwall, Portsmouth have announced the arrival of defender Hayden Matthews from Sydney FC for an undisclosed fee, subject to international clearance. The 20-year-old from Australia has agreed a four-and-a-half-year deal with the Fratton Park outfit.
Blues boss John Mousinho said: “He’s a really promising young centre-back and a player that we’ve been tracking for quite some time. There wasn’t the opportunity to bring him over here in the summer, so we’re delighted that he’s been able to join us now. Hayden is someone with a huge amount of potential, but he’s already played a lot of first team games in a short amount of time. He’s six-foot-five, but is also very mobile and doesn’t just rely on his height. There’s a real physicality there, while he’s calm and composed with the ball at his feet.”
Pompey have also signed striker Thomas Waddingham from Brisbane Roar this month. The forward had also been the subject of interest form Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday.
Sheffield Wednesday striker departure ‘unlikely’
Sheffield Wednesday striker Michael Smith is unlikely to leave the club this month despite an approach from League One promotion hopefuls Wrexham. That is according to The Star in Sheffield, who first reported on the Welsh club’s interest in Smith. The forward opened the scoring for the Owls on Saturday as they won 2-0 at QPR with Callum Paterson adding the second goal.
“We know what we get from Smudge,” Owls boss Danny Röhl said after the win at Loftus Road. “Before the game I thought to myself how we could start this game and how we could end this game and at the end you look at it and maybe say that is exactly the story that I thought. To start with Smudge and Pato was not for me, I thought it was better to have one on the pitch and then bring the second in. This is the story of the game. But my team did everything.”
After QPR’s loss, head coach Marti Cifuentes confronted talk of Sheffield United’s interest in defender Jimmy Dunne. The Blades are without Harry Souttar for the rest of the season due to an Achilles injury picked up at the end of December.