Kenny Jackett praises nine-man Portsmouth after Doncaster draw
Posted Sunday, February 04, 2018 by PA
Portsmouth manager Kenny Jackett hailed his team’s fighting spirit as they fought back twice to draw 2-2 with Doncaster at Fratton Park despite ending the game with nine men.
Pompey goalkeeper Stephen Henderson was forced off injured in the 85th minute – with Jackett having already used all three substitutions – before defender Christian Burgess was sent off after picking up a second yellow card.
With forward Kal Naismith ending up in goal for the hosts, Jackett was left thrilled with the character his side showed.
Jackett said: “From 83 minutes onwards, I was delighted with the point.
“We went down to nine men and battled fantastically well and the crowd, who were excellent, really drove the players on.
“The players did great to keep the majority of the ball away from Kal Naismith and ran their hearts out.
“Up until that point there was a winning situation for us, so it is slightly frustrating.
“We have had as much control as we have had for a while but defensively we have to do better.
“Sides don’t have to work too hard to score goals against us and that’s nine games without a clean sheet.”
Doncaster got off to a perfect start when they took the lead through James Coppinger in just the fourth minute as he drilled his shot past Henderson.
Pompey began to settle and were back in the game on 19 minutes when Anton Walkes was at the back post to convert Gareth Evans’ corner.
Despite Pompey dominating the match, Doncaster went ahead in the 63rd minute when John Marquis headed in from Coppinger’s corner.
But Portsmouth continued to go in search of an equaliser and were rewarded when substitute Brett Pitman struck at the back post in the 81st mintue.
However, Pompey then found themselves two players down when Henderson hobbled off before Burgess was given a second yellow for a handball in injury time.
And Doncaster manager Darren Ferguson bemoaned his team’s inability to remain calm when the home side were down to nine men.
Ferguson said: “If you can manage leaving here without getting beat then you are always thinking it isn’t a bad result.
“For the first 20 minutes, we were outstanding and Coppinger got an early goal. We were totally dominant.
“And then in the last period of the game when Burgess got sent off and they had a left winger in goal, my players decided to panic.
“I was more worried about losing the game.
“We started pumping it forwards instead of passing it because we had extra players.
“The only time we did do that was when (Ben) Whiteman should have scored but the boy (Naismith) made a good save.”
- Tag:
Photos
More»
Ex-Barcelona WAG strips completely naked
Thursday April 18 2024
[PICTURE SPECIAL] Real Madrid end City's UCL dream
Thursday April 18 2024
Glam British athlete Lauryn Davey shows off bum
Wednesday April 17 2024
Your Say