GIVEN the malaise which has engulfed Hillsborough like a huge black cloud of late, Sheffield Wednesday's players and staff would be forgiven for being relieved to hit the road today.

Henrik Pedersen begs to differ.

After a run of four successive home games, crisis club Wednesday make a 460-mile round trip to the south coast.

While many Wednesdayites may have taken the decision to vote with their feet in protest at the reviled Dejphon Chansiri regime - and hit the club owner where it hurts at home matches - the Owls' fine away numbers have not been overly impacted.

Sheffield Wednesday chief Henrik Pedersen, pictured during Tuesday night's EFL Cup tie against Grimsby Town at Hillsborough.

placeholder image — Sheffield Wednesday chief Henrik Pedersen, pictured during Tuesday night's EFL Cup tie against Grimsby Town at Hillsborough.

For most, the 'day-out' element of an away fixture is a bit of a distraction from the maelstrom of events at S6 in truth.

Wednesday can be sure of emotional support today too, with Pompey Supporters' Trust voicing their support for protest action by Owls fans.

Chants of protest from the away sections will continue, with sections of Wednesdayites also likely to wear their black and gold protest colours.

But the fact that the game is a near sell-out will provide a bit of an atmosphere at least whereas apathy has prevailed in the Owls home games.

In midweek, scores of fans boycotted the midweek cup tie with Grimsby, with the 9,404 crowd made up of less than 3,500 home followers.

Pedersen said: "We all love to play at Hillsborough. With away games, we also have fantastic fans.

"But it has not been a theme for the staff, coaches and players that playing away is easier than playing at home.

"We are happy every time we have to play at Hillsborough, but we also really look forward to away games as we know away games are special as we know the fans are amazing when we are playing away.

"I could feel the fans behind me on Tuesday and I think they did all that they could. I know they will do all they can to create a good atmosphere (at Portsmouth) and I still respect the fans who don't come to the stadium."

Wednesday face a hard-running Pompey side in Pedersen’s view. Training preparations have been tailored accordingly.

He added: "From the physical side, Portsmouth are one of the teams who run the most and have the most sprints and accelerations.

"We have spoken about increasing the level of acceleration, especially for Portsmouth when they have a more direct game with more second ball situations where we have to be really good to match them."