Wayne Rooney appeared to call on Plymouth fans to give Portsmouth a reception to remember ahead of their ‘derby’.
Plymouth suffered a 3-0 defeat at Leeds in the Championship on Saturday, leaving the Pilgrims without a victory in their last four.
They have the opportunity to get back to winning ways when they entertain fellow strugglers Portsmouth at Home Park on Tuesday night.
And Rooney is already looking ahead to that clash, which he labelled a ‘derby’, despite the fact there is a 172-mile distance from Plymouth stadium Home Park and Pompey’s home Fratton Park.
That’s almost a three-and-a-half hour drive.
Speaking to talkSPORT after the defeat to Leeds, Rooney said: “I think we have to respect the opposition as well today. They’re a very good team and when we come with the injuries we’ve got, we knew today was going to be a very difficult game.
“So, you know, with full strength, this game is going to be a very difficult game for us. So, yeah, we come here hoping to get something.
“We haven’t. We’ve got another game coming on Tuesday, so we have to make sure we’re ready.
“Every game is a big game. So, yeah, Portsmouth at home, big game. I believe it’s a derby game, so I’m sure the fans will be right up for it.”
A nightmare eight-minute period in the first-half saw Plymouth ship all three goals of the big defeat, with Dan James, Joel Piroe and Brenden Aaronsen getting on the scoresheet for Leeds.
Rooney lamented that poor period for his side but sent a reminder that his resources were limited for their trip to Elland Road.
He added: “We came here today knowing we have to be resilient and try and get something out of the game.
“We’re suffering a lot of injuries of late and missing a lot of key players.
“We had a game plan to try and make it difficult. We didn’t want to open ourselves up too much because the Leeds will hurt you. They’re the best team in the league, they’ll do that to you.
“I thought we started well in terms of defence, we didn’t give them any clear chances. And then we had a mad seven minutes where we conceded probably the first and second goal with a little element of luck from Leeds’ point of view on them as well.
“But yeah, we conceded three goals in seven minutes and that kills the game.
“So, yeah, disappointed. We knew it was a tough game and now we have to try and move on very quickly.”
Plymouth are third from bottom in the Championship with 12 points from their opening 13 games this season.
Their outing against Portsmouth is a basement battle with the south coast club occupying the foot of the table, adding more spice to the ‘derby’.
