Portsmouth moved above Sunderland into third place in League One at the weekend, and manager Kenny Jackett is looking at it as the minimum they want from this season.

Pompey warmed up for their Football League Trophy final against the Black Cats at Wembley by beating Shrewsbury Town to leapfrog them in the league.

Clear at the top at Christmas, Portsmouth have seven matches to make up the four-point gap to Barnsley and claim an automatic promotion spot.

If they cannot, Jackett says it is important to claim third spot and home advantage in the second leg of the play-off semi-finals as he looks to ticks off the targets one by one.

That is also the least Sunderland will be looking for when they return to league action next month with three games in hand on the top two.

“We’re trying to keep pressure on the top two and then after that it’s third and fourth spot, which gets you at home in the second leg of the play-offs,” said Jackett.

“Beyond that it’s about the gap to seventh to cement a place in the play-offs – they’re all the things that go through your mind.

“You have to find different ways of winning games throughout the season because at the moment there’s no side with nothing to play for.”

Barnsley’s injury-time winner in Saturday’s televised game at Walsall kept up the pressure on the chasing pack. The gap to Sunderland is five points, but the Black Cats have two games in hand on the three sides above them. Their next league match is at Accrington Stanley on April 3.

But the Tykes have had four 0-0 draws in their last seven league matches, struggling for goals since top-scorer Kieffer Moore was ruled out for the season after a serious head injury.

It looked like they were heading for another at the Bescott Stadium until Jacob Brown’s intervention.

Luton Town, ten points clear of the Black Cats, are offering no signs of encouragement under their Sunderland-born caretaker manager Mick Harford. Their 4-0 win at home to Gillingham extended their unbeaten run to 12 matches, although they have been alternating between wins and draws for the last seven.

Third place plays sixth in the end-of-season play-offs, with fifth hosting fourth in the first leg for a place at Wembley. The winners there will join the top two in the 2019-20 Championship.