Portsmouth boss Kenny Jackett: We have to keep believing
Posted Wednesday, March 13, 2019 by PA
Portsmouth manager Kenny Jackett is still targeting automatic promotion after his side recorded their first Sky Bet League One away win of 2019 with a 3-2 victory at Walsall.
Recalled trio Brett Pitman, Omar Bogle and Viv Solomon-Otabor put a dominant Pompey 3-0 up at the Banks’s Stadium before Jon Guthrie set up a nervy finish as the centre-back scored twice from corners in the closing stages.
Portsmouth were five points clear at the top of League One on New Year’s Day but a recent eight-match winless run means they now sit six points behind second-placed Barnsley.
“It was nice to bounce back after the Charlton game,” Jackett said.
“There’s still 30 points to play for and a lot can happen. I do think we’ll need a high number of wins but that’s the first one tonight and we’ll do everything we can to get a really high points total.
“We have to keep believing and also respect that it’s a hard league. It’s not easy to win games and sometimes it’s fine margins.
“We have to see if we can build that momentum – it’s a big ask but we have to target it. If we can get a run together we’ll see where it takes us.”
Jackett praised returning club captain Pitman, who had been omitted from five matchday squads recently after dropping down the Fratton Park pecking order.
The former Ipswich man occupied the Number 10 role rather than his regular centre-forward position and looked lively throughout.
“I thought he played well,” Jackett added. “If you can get some pace in that front three then he can drop deep and be an effective attacking option for us.”
The only downside for Jackett was that Republic of Ireland international Ronan Curtis missed the game after part of his finger had to be reattached after it was slammed in a door.
“It is quite serious,” Jackett added. “The wind caught the door as he was leaving home. They’ve sewed it back on because it was hanging off.”
Lee Brown’s 13th-minute cross appeared to be drifting out of play when Morgan Ferrier needlessly shoved Nathan Thompson and Pitman converted the resulting penalty.
Bogle’s lob from the edge of the area doubled the away side’s lead and Pompey added a third midway through the second half when Pitman played in Jamal Lowe down the right and he squared for Solomon-Otabor, who provided a cool finish.
Guthrie pulled one back when he headed home from a corner 15 minutes from time and scrambled a second from a set-piece in stoppage-time.
Walsall boss Dean Keates said: The endeavour was all there and on another day we could have had a point.
“I’m just disappointed with the goals we conceded – Portsmouth didn’t have to earn their goals.
“We have to regroup. To concede three in the manner we did, we are disappointed.”
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