"Fixture list is horrendous" - Sky Sports pundit issues confident Portsmouth FC verdict after winless start | OneFootball

Andy Hinchcliffe has given his view on Portsmouth's difficult start to life back in the Championship.

Pundit Andy Hinchcliffe insists he is not concerned about Portsmouth despite their winless start to the season in the Championship.

Portsmouth are back in the Championship for the first time since 2012 after winning the League One title last season, and they will be looking to consolidate in the second tier in the year ahead.

It was an incredibly busy summer at Fratton Park, with 14 new signings arriving during the course of the transfer window, while there were also a number of departures, including the likes of Matt Macey, Joe Rafferty, Sean Raggett, Jack Sparkes, Lee Evans, Josh Martin, Anthony Scully and Gavin Whyte.

On the pitch, it has been a disappointing start to the season for Pompey, and they currently sit 18th in the table after drawing three and losing one of their first four games.

However, Mousinho's men have had an incredibly tough run of fixtures in the early weeks of the campaign, and it does not get much easier with games against West Bromwich Albion, Burnley and Sheffield United to come.

Andy Hinchcliffe makes optimistic Portsmouth claim

Hinchcliffe says there is no reason for Portsmouth to panic despite their slow start to the season, and he believes they will improve over the course of the campaign as their young squad adapts to the Championship.

"A bit like Oxford, it is about continuity," Hinchcliffe said on the Sky Sports Championship Catch-up podcast.

"You look at the players they brought in during the summer, they probably didn't everyone they wanted.

"They're a club that want to invest in young players and that's what they've done over the course of the summer, they've brought a lot of young players in.

"It's going to be difficult with young players transitioning to the Championship, then you've got that run of fixtures as well. "Would John Mousinho look at it in a positive way and say 'we know just how good now the Championship is if we didn't before a ball was kicked'? "You've got to look at it that way, and I suppose teams will be worried about playing Portsmouth. "It's not that they're having a problem finding their best XI and they've got new players coming into the team, so it's going to be a forgone conclusion. "I do believe they'll win one of the next three games, I'm not sure who it will be, but they're certainly good enough and the belief is there. "John Mousinho is such a good coach, he speaks incredibly well, we've interviewed him many, many times, and he won't be getting too carried away about what this season holds. "But that fixture list is horrendous, you wouldn't have picked those games to start with. "It's about getting through, learning about yourselves and learning about the quality of the Championship.

"Don't rush to judgement just because Portsmouth haven't won a game yet, they're still a good side and will get better once those new players settle in."

Of course, Portsmouth would have been keen to secure their first win back in the Championship as quickly as possible, but they should not be too worried that they are yet to register a victory.

In truth, few would have expected a newly-promoted side to pick up many points against the likes of Leeds United, Luton Town, Middlesbrough and Sunderland, and with West Brom, Burnley and Sheffield United to come in their next three games, Pompey's winless run may go on for a little while longer.

However, while they are yet to win a game, Portsmouth should be encouraged by the fact they have only lost one game so far, and they have proven that they can be competitive in the division.

After conceding eight goals in four games, Mousinho will need to tighten his side up at the back, but they have shown they can cause problems for teams at the other end, and it will surely not be long until they get their season up and running.