Joby McAnuff

EFL expert Joby McEnuff is backing Pompey's stomach for a fight to keep them in the championship, tipping John Messinio's side to survive by the skin of their teeth.

Speaking on Sky Sports, the pundit weighed in on the dogfight at the bottom of the table, where a six-game winless streak has left the Blues right in the thick of it.

The former Wimbledon and Reading midfielder admitted Pompey are a strange team due to their rollercoaster form, but he believes there's still reason for fans to be optimistic during this tough stretch.

He says, Portsmouth have been there or thereabouts but they feel like that team who are being really sucked into it, they're a strange team, they made some really good signings in January, Ibu Adams was one of them, and Milialli another.

I felt that gave them that bit of spark and they picked up some results but this last run they've been on now is a worrying one.

Highlighting Adams' reaction after the recent QPR loss, McAnuff added, You can see how distraught Ibu Adams is, who's someone I had a spell with at Leighton Orient.

He's a really honest and hard-working player who will give everything.

That's one thing I will say about this Portsmouth side.

They will fight.

There's no one in that group who will be downing tools or thinking the battle's too big.

I think John Messina will just about have enough to keep them up.

McAnuff wasn't nearly as confident about Leicester City's desire to stay up, especially after a draw at Watford extended their miserable run to just one win in 13 league games.

For him it's not about talent, but mentality.

If I was going into one of those teams as a manager, and thinking which group has the most quality, it would be Leicester City for sure, but there seems to be bigger problems there, he explained.

Gary Rowett hasn't got what many of us expected to get out of that group and find more consistency.

While he noted a couple of recent clean sheets were a silver lining, McAnuff was critical of their failures in front of goal.

To a man they haven't been good enough.

But you cannot be missing opportunities like Pats and Dakar's missed penalty and open goal.

You would think these players who've played in the Premier League and been in teams who've got promoted from the Championship, should be taking those opportunities.

The whole group needs to take accountability.