Paul Hurst relishing Shrewsbury Town's big Portsmouth test

Town played well when they beat Kenny Jackett’s Pompey 2-0 at the Montgomery Waters Meadow just before Christmas, writes Stuart Dunn.

Boss Hurst is now seeking a similar performance against the south coast club, who are ninth in League One, five points outside the play-off spots.

Portsmouth average over 17,500 at the atmospheric Fratton Park this season and will be backed by another big crowd.

But Hurst, whose side booked a semi-final spot in the Checkatrade Trophy by beating Oldham 2-1 on Tuesday night, stressed it was a game to look forward to for his players.

He said: “It’s another long journey for the players and we know they’ve got a good home record.

“There’ll be a big crowd in, a very vocal crowd, a good place to play football, a real hotbed of football.”

He added: “It will be a difficult one, we know that.

“It wasn’t that long ago that we played them.

“We had a good victory and we’ll be delighted if we can go there and put on a similar performance that would at least give us a chance of getting that result.”

Hurst well remembers playing at Fratton Park in his own playing days – and he’s urging his third-placed team to do all they can to keep the Pompey fans quiet.

He added: “It’s one of the fixtures you look forward to and maybe look at and think ‘I’m looking forward to going there.’

“It doesn’t seem that long ago to myself, but they’re a former Premier League side.

“I played there in a game on TV when they actually won promotion. They’ve got avid fans, a lot of them.

“The club’s been through some difficult times, but I think is now on the way up again - hopefully not at our expense at the weekend.

“But it’s one that the players should really enjoy and hopefully we can keep the big crowd as quiet as possible.”

Town fans have travelled in impressive numbers to recent away games, with 3,000 going to West Ham for last week’s FA Cup replay, while nearly 1,400 attended the last away league game at Blackburn.

Hurst insisted it’s much appreciated and hopes for another good turn out in the away end this weekend.

“We’ve started taking some great away followings,” he said. “It’s a long way and it’s another expense, but I know that we’ll have the ones that can make it.

“I’m sure they will be getting on the coaches or getting in their cars very early on Saturday morning. There might be one or two having maybe a weekend away and taking the football in.

“We always appreciate that support. I fully understand the demands of being a loyal supporter and having the time and finance to travel the country. We hope that we can do them justice.”