Portsmouth boss expressed his delight of Pompey’s attacking prowess after they romped to a 4-1 victory over in-from Crewe Alexandra at Fratton Park yesterday afternoon.
The victory saw the Fratton Park side jump up to fourth in the table and put some pressure on the teams above in the automatic promotion spots.
Portsmouth owner, Michael Eisner, expressed his delight on the result.
Ronan Curtis returned to the side after his time away with the Republic of Ireland squad, during this time he made his first start for his country. In relation to this Curtis stated,
“I’m feeling good and the confidence is higher after going away on international duty and getting some game time.”
He added, “It was a great afternoon. We knew what we had to do against a really good side, and it was always going to be hard.”
Unfortunately, a late Crewe penalty in stoppage time denied, Portsmouth keeper, Craig MacGillivray a clean sheet on his 100th appearance for the club but that didn’t dampen his spirits.
Making his first full league debut for the club, however, was 18-year-old Haji Mnoga who was ecstatic to make the starting XI.
This start for Mnoga, came to end though after the opening 45 minutes when, Pompey boss, Kenny Jackett replaced both full backs.
Jackett explained: “Haji’s done very well in training, but Crewe’s movement was giving both of them problems and we needed two more experienced players.”
“There may be other occasions when we need to go for youth and energy, but at that particular point of the game I thought Lee Brown and Callum Johnson would help us for the rest of the game.”
“It’s nothing against Haji or Cam and both of them should be pleased with their contribution to get us to 2-0 at half-time.”
Kenny Jackett also conveyed his delight at the wide range of attacking threat that Pompey had.
“With the players out there on the pitch – as well as Ryan Williams and Michael Jacobs – there’s so much potential in those attacking positions.”
“If we can keep using them and getting them into the correct positions, then we’ll continue creating chances.”
With this emphatic victory Portsmouth now boast the best goal difference in the EFL League One. Meanwhile alongside Cambridge United, both teams have scored the most goals this season across the top four divisions.
