Portsmouth Football Club News

A+ for effort but must improve on finishing. That is Paul Hart’s report after Pompey’s first four Premier League games of the 2009/10 campaign. Those four matches have yielded no points and left the Blues bottom of the table. But it is still early days and the performances of Hart’s troops have arguably warranted points. A lucky goal, a contentious penalty and a brilliant Arsenal have all conspired against them. The latest defeat was inflicted by big-spending Manchester City, who claimed victory courtesy of Emmanuel Adebayor’s first-half header. But the Blues boss insists that if they keep performing the way they have been then the points will come. He said: “I thought we played very well. I was pleased with the way we went about the job. “We were disciplined when we didn’t have the ball and we kept possession well. “We just lacked a little bit of forward movement. Whenever we did get in behind them, we caused problems. “Nugent had a great opportunity to score and it’s disappointing that he couldn’t. “But I was really encouraged. We’ve been in contention in every game so far. “We had the goal that went off somebody’s backside against Fulham, the injury-time penalty at Birmingham and we competed exceptionally well at Arsenal. “There are encouraging signs. If we retain that spirit and willingness to work then we’ll turn this around. “We’re four games in and yes we need points. But we’re building now what most teams have built a few months ago.” Hart was also impressed with debutants Michael Brown and Tommy Smith, who looked ready and willing against the Citizens. He said: “I thought they were excellent. The effort they put in means the supporters will instantly warm to them. “They’re good, intelligent lads and I was extremely pleased with them. I couldn’t have expected much more from them.”

Click here to read the full article

Filed under: Portsmouth News