SWINDON midfielder Matt Ritchie is already relishing the prospect of going head to head with boyhood club Portsmouth in League One next season.

Ritchie and his Town teammates celebrated promotion on the Priestfield pitch following their game with Gillingham on Saturday, but on the same day Pompey were relegated from the Championship as they lost 2-1 at home to Derby.

It has been a difficult season for the south coast club, as financial trouble resulted in a 10 point deduction which ultimately cost them their place in the second tier having only been relegated from the Premier League in 2010.

Ritchie came up through the ranks at Fratton Park having been in the academy since he was 13, and was sad to hear they had been relegated as he came off the pitch at Gillingham.

“I am disappointed because I am still a supporter of the club, and it was hard to see them get relegated because things have been tough there,” he said.

“It is not my place to say what has gone on there because I do not know the exact details of what has gone on, but it was very sad.

“But I am looking forward to playing them next season for Swindon, and it will be great to play at Fratton Park again which will be great.

“They have some great fans and some great players, so hopefully they will bounce back, but we will have to wait and see who stays and who goes.”

But while Ritchie is already casting his mind to next season, he is focused on trying to stop a run of two straight defeats at home to Port Vale on Saturday, on a day when Town can clinch the League Two title.

“We are all looking forward to it and hopefully everyone will be fit going into the game because is could be a special one for everyone,” he said.

“We had a bad result on Saturday but this week we want to put in a good performance.

“The results and performances have not been great at the moment, but we managed to grind out some wins and hopefully on Saturday we can put in a good performance and win the game.

“There is an obvious sense of frustration around here at the moment because we lost the game on Saturday and not performed very well, but we are all working hard to put that behind us and bounce back strongly.

“There is no better way of doing that than by winning a league title, and that is something we have a chance of doing this weekend and we need to take it.

“It is great that everything is in our own hands and we can make it a special day for everyone.”