Gallen: Pompey purring at prospect of south-coast showdown

Posted Thursday, August 29, 2019 by PA

Portsmouth assistant boss Joe Gallen is relishing the prospect of a Carabao Cup showdown with south-coast rivals Southampton.

Sky Bet League One club Portsmouth were drawn at home to the Saints in round three after winning 2-0 at QPR.

Gallen said: “It’s great. I really love derby games and I think it’s brilliant that we’re now going to play Southampton.”

Championship side QPR dominated for large spells but John Marquis’ 76th-minute penalty put the visitors ahead and Marcus Harness sealed their win five minutes later.

And former QPR coach Gallen, a lifelong fan of the west London club, felt Portsmouth deserved their win.

“We felt that if we could see the opening 20 minutes out we could then get our football going and create some chances,” he said.

“I think in the second half we did do that and pushed QPR back quite a bit.

“The second half was even and at that stage it’s first goal wins really. You start to think that whoever gets the first goal is probably going to win.

“Luckily for us we got the penalty and it’s gone our way. Then after the first goal you could see the confidence.

“Overall, do I think we deserved it? Yes. I think we edged it.”

QPR manager Mark Warburton accused his side of complacency.

“Not good enough, simple as that. No excuses. We didn’t deserve to go through,” Warburton said.

“In the first 20-25 minutes we were very comfortable – probably too comfortable. We looked very good and then in truth we got complacent and sloppy.

“Portsmouth grew into the game and in the second half we flattered to deceive. We had lots of possession but that’s irrelevant because we never really troubled them.

“They then got the penalty and that changed it.”