Marlon Pack 'desperate' to see Bristol City in Premier League ahead of Portsmouth showdown

Marlon Pack has admitted he is "desperate" to see Bristol City in the Premier League in the future despite hoping his current side Portsmouth can get one over the Robins at Fratton Park this weekend.

The midfielder spent six years at Ashton Gate and was part of the City team that won the League One and Johnstone's Paint Trophy double under Steve Cotterill as well as the side that beat Manchester United on route to the League Cup semi-finals during Lee Johnson's time in charge of the Reds.

Pack left Ashton Gate in the summer of 2019 to join City's Severnside rivals Cardiff City and after three years in the Welsh capital, the 33-year-old joined hometown club Portsmouth and as captain guided Pompey to the League One title during his second season at Fratton Park.

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John Mousinho's side welcome Liam Manning's Reds to the south coast on Saturday and while Pack is keen to get one over his former side, the experienced midfielder has been quick to heap praise on the Robins.

"I think that model that the football club have now is fantastic," the 33-year-old told BBC Radio Bristol's Sound of the City. "The amount of youngsters that have come through that they blood and become Championship footballers and then the lads that they have sold for high profits and become Premier League players, some of which I was fortunate enough to see at my time at Bristol City.

"I think the infrastructure of the football club now is so good and it’s pleasing to see them doing so well. At the weekend obviously, we’ll want a different result but all involved at Bristol City and ex-players are desperate to see that club in the Premier League at some point because I think the fans deserve it, the owner deserves it and all those hardworking people that are the real core of the football club. Scott Murray, Jen who is in the kitchen, Matt Parsons, those types of people who are the real bread and butter of the football club and will remain there for years to come."

Portsmouth have had a difficult start to life in the Championship and currently sit bottom of the table having only managed to win two of their opening 16 matches in the second tier.

While Pompey do have two games in hand on those around them after their games against Blackburn Rovers and Millwall were postponed, Mousinho's side are already up against it in the race to avoid the drop this season.

Having used his time at Ashton Gate as an inspiration during Portsmouth's promotion season, Pack believes he and his teammates can learn a lot from Bristol City as they look to establish themselves in the Championship.

"I try to take a lot of things we did with that team under Steve Cotterill and now being captain under the guidance of Aaron Wilbraham," explained Pack. "I speak to Albie a lot but last season after we got promoted I messaged him, probably not on the evening because we were quite jubilant but the day after to say thank you because what we did there at Bristol City that season, not so much on the pitch because that kind of takes care of itself, but the off the field curriculum, going out, meeting up for coffees, those really small details I’ve tried to integrate into our group.

"I don’t want to touch on it too much but the reaction to the Championship, we probably haven’t got to the level where we’d want to be right now. But I always say what we did at Bristol City where we struggled quite early on to try and find our feet but we eventually got accustomed to life in the Championship and found a way.

"It is definitely a club on the upward trend and once again I can see the similarities between ourselves now and my time at Bristol City where the club had reached previous heights and found themselves in League One. Obviously for Bristol City, not for as long as Portsmouth but we found something, we created something within the football club which everyone outside it bought into and now Bristol City have a fantastic training ground and the stadium speaks for itself.

"They’re a really established top Championship club and we can learn a lot at Portsmouth from the likes of Bristol City and how they’ve gone about it."

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