Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie O’Hara believes that Portsmouth can reach the Premier League in the next few years.
The Hampshire outfit are on the brink of Championship promotion. They are top of the League One standings with 83 points and seven games to play.
They took a massive step towards automatic promotion at the weekend with a 1-0 win over in-form Peterborough United.
Kusini Yengi came off the bench to score the decisive goal after 77 minutes, with the victory sending John Mousinho’s side nine points above third-place Bolton Wanderers.
O’Hara believes his former club could complete a return to the Premier League if they win League One this season.
“You never know – Portsmouth could find themselves back in the Premier League in the next few years,” O’Hara said. “Teams can have crazy seasons, much like Luton did last year.
If you find a way to get results and wins on the board in the Championship, you can find yourself in a good position with how often fixtures come around.
“If Portsmouth can get into the Championship, keep building, and have some structure like they have now, then they will have that winning mentality and the sky would be the limit for them.
“Fair play to them, by the way – it is very difficult to get out of League One. You see a lot of big teams end up in there and find it difficult to get back up, so I have a lot of respect for them and I’ll hopefully be down there to watch a game soon for sure!”
“If the club win League One, then they’ll be able to use that momentum for the next 12 months and hopefully more, because the players will have experienced that winning feeling. The question is, will the current players have enough in the tank to go again next season? I could see it!”
Portsmouth spent seven years in the Premier League before their relegation to the Championship in 2009-10.
A difficult period followed when the club entered financial administration twice and was relegated three times.
However, things have improved since the Hampshire outfit was purchased by the Pompey Supporters Trust in 2013.
Portsmouth are currently playing in League One for their seventh consecutive season, but promotion now looks very close for them.
