Jackett unhappy with Pompey’s poor defending
Posted Wednesday, October 24, 2018 by PA
Portsmouth manager Kenny Jackett blamed his side’s sloppy defending as the League One leaders were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Burton.
It took a second half equaliser from Matt Clarke to rescue Pompey a point from a pulsating game after Burton had come from behind at half-time to lead.
Frustrated Jackett said: “We are disappointed defensively with the goals we conceded. That is slightly out of character for us, especially the second one when he went past three or four people.
“After that it was an excellent response from our players.
“Once we went 2-1 down we deservedly got the equaliser and were unlucky not to win the game because the ball just would not fall for us in the box.
“They showed Championship quality and did not need many chances to score. The higher you go up the league that is the case.
“We accept the point and we have to make sure we eradicate the soft goals. Conceding two goals at home is not what we want to do.”
Pompey were by far the better team in the first half but took until nine minutes before the break to turn their domination into a goal.
Oli Hawkins opened the scoring with his second goal in as many games with a thumping near-post header from Ben Thompson’s pin-point cross.
Burton turned the game on its head by netting twice in the space of three minutes after the half-time break.
Supersub Devante Cole finished neatly into the bottom corner with his first touch after coming off the bench and being picked out unmarked inside the box by Jamie Allen.
Southampton loanee Jake Hesketh put the Brewers in front, lashing the ball into the roof of the net after a mazy solo run at the heart of the Pompey defence.
Clarke equalised five minutes later with a towering header from Gareth Evans’ corner.
Burton manager Nigel Clough saluted his young team’s fighting spirit.
Clough said: “We were absolutely brilliant in the second half, disappointing in the first.
“It was a remarkable point in the circumstances, coming to the team top of the league and going 1-0 down.
“Not many people would have backed us at half-time but we showed character and spirit in abundance in the second half.
“We had a lot of youngsters in the team and this is the kind of place where you have to grow up.
“If we could have held onto the lead for another 10 or 15 minutes we might have had three points.
“The first goal was a great team goal, a lovely move and a great finish from Devante.”
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