FANS will be treated to the infrequent sight of midweek Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) action when Humble Lion FC visit struggling former champions Portmore United in a rescheduled encounter at the Ferdie Neita Park this evening, commencing at 7:00.

The match, which is the lone RSPL clash today, was brought forward to facilitate Portmore United’s involvement in an invitational competition in the United States over a week from now.

Portmore United, most recently the national club champions in 2007-08 and 2011-12, have suffered a torrid domestic campaign so far, winning only five of their 19 outings, while losing eight times for 21 points.

They are also lying in one of two relegation spots — 11th in the 12-team standing — only two points ahead of cellar team August Town FC.

The silver lining for Portmore is the closely stacked nature of the RSPL standings. They are only three points behind seventh-placed Humble Lion and a further one behind fifth-placed Cavalier SC.

Portmore’s head coach Calvin Lewis, who took over several weeks into the season, said a paltry 13 goals scored is an indicator of a major Achilles’ heel within the squad.

“We need to start scoring goals to win games. It has been a problem for us — not scoring goals. We are the lowest scoring team in the league. Yes, we are playing well, getting good build-ups and keeping possession, but the shortcoming is in front of goal,” he told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

On the weekend, the St Catherine-based team went down 0-1 at to visitors Tivoli Gardens FC, but Lewis said his players have to start making the home advantage count.

“I fancy my team to win tomorrow. It won’t be an easy game, but we are playing at home and we need to bounce back from the loss. We need to get ourselves out of the relegation zone and try taking it from there,” said Lewis.

Humble Lion’s coach Geoffrey Maxwell, who has seen his team stutter badly since holding the RSPL lead early in the season, has set his sights on a top-four finish, which will seal a semi-final place.

According to him, the weekend’s 1-0 win — only their sixth of the campaign — over leaders Harbour View FC (37 points) should provide a big boost for his Clarendon-located outfit.

“The overall picture is that we have targeted four games in a row that we need to win that should move us back to at least third position based on the possibility of [other] results. We played a very well-planned game against Harbour View. We feel very confident that we can go to Portmore and do the same, but football is a very cruel game because what is yours today can be mine tomorrow.

“If we play like we train I cannot see a reason why we cannot come away with three points. We are not underestimating Portmore, but I think overall we are showing a little more confidence in a group,” he said immediately after yesterday’s training session.

RSPL game today

*7:00 pm — Portmore United vs Humble Lion @ Ferdie Neita Park