Portsmouth manager Danny Cowley has admitted that his side will have to be at the top of their game for Saturday’s trip to Sunderland.
Pompey currently sit ninth in Sky Bet League One, just five points off a play-off place, but come up against a Black Cats outfit well in the mix for an automatic promotion place.
Although the wins have dried up as of late, Sunderland have been in superb form at the Stadium of Light this season, boasting the best home record in the entire division.
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Lee Johnson’s side have also won two of their last three matches at home 5-0, showing that if everything clicks into gear, they can be an unstoppable force at this level.
And Portsmouth boss Cowley has acknowledged that, particularly singling out attacking duo Ross Stewart and Alex Pritchard as two players who can hurt his side.
The former Huddersfield boss believes his side will have to reach the levels they did in the previous meeting at Fratton Park, where they ran out 4-0 winners.
Via quotes from Hampshire Live, he said: “Sunderland are a team with a lot to respect, they have a fantastic squad, and they are a juggernaut of a football club at this level.
“They have a fantastic squad with huge resources, and they are geared up to be promoted into the Championship and we will have to be at our very best, both with and without the ball in order to get the result that we want.
“It provides a great challenge, a great test for us. I have watched them a few times this season, and naturally we have done a lot of work since Tuesday to see how they are playing in this moment.
“They have added Danny Batth from Stoke this week, which gives them more experience defensively.
“We have worked with Alex Pritchard. Huddersfield paid £11million for him and you don't do that unless a player is good. He is very good at creating and in Ross Stewart they have a very good forward who drifts off defenders and scores all different types of goals, so they carry a real goal threat and there is a lot to respect about them.
“It is a real test of where we are at and we are looking to find the best version of ourselves for Saturday.”
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