Portsmouth may have beaten Derby County to the League One title, but their return to the Championship hit a significant low last night.
John Mousinho’s side were beaten 6-1 by Stoke City, leaving them in the top three of the Championship table and the only side without a win this season. Tom Cannon scored four goals on the night as Pompey were swept away by Narcis Pelach, who earned their first win since replacing Steven Schumacher as manager. Mousinho faced the press after the game and said: “The fans were incredible, they don’t deserve this, we didn’t deserve what they gave us tonight. We apologize to everyone who spent their money to come at Stoke on Wednesday evening.
“It’s unacceptable and we all know deep down that we are very, very lucky to have this support. Me and the coaching staff take full responsibility for everything we do, but the players have to question it too. It is his career that is affected by this type of performance. I didn’t expect it, it was a big surprise for me because we were very good in the last three games. » Derby fans on X, formerly known as Twitter, said their evening that night making comparisons to the Rams’ season opener. Paul Warne’s side have won three of their first eight games since returning to the Second Division and have played five of their first eight so far.