It's as fierce a battle to stay up as you could imagine in League One - and Pompey still have to face a handful of the teams involved.

Just three points separate 10 clubs from Plymouth, who are 12th, to Walsall, who sit 21st, going into this weekend's games.

Shrewsbury, who host Pompey this weekend, are in the thick of that group in 18th place and the fact that so many teams will be desperately fighting for points, not just counting down to the end of the season, is not lost on Jackett.

He told www.portsmouthfc.co.uk: 'The bottom half of the season is so tight — it’s unbelievable. There are a number of teams that will need points on the board sooner rather than later.

'Shrewsbury got a great win against Wycombe — one of their competitors — at the weekend and we lost twice to them twice last season. We understand they’ll be fighting for their lives, but have to show our quality and it’s an opportunity for us to keep pushing for those promotion places.'

For Pompey's part, Jackett knows they will have to be at their best from now til the end of the campaign. 'As far as you can, you have to prepare for one game at a time. All of your energy has to be focused on the next one,' he told the website.

'But when you look at the big picture, it does change slightly because we’re going to need a high number of points from the 24 that are still available. We’re four and nine respectively off the sides that are currently second and first, so we have to keep pushing and know it’s still possible.'

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