Gaffer for a day: I wouldn't have started Lowe for Pompey

Wait a minute, didn’t you advocate the dropping of Jamal Lowe for this match?

I did, I hold my hands up to preferring Gareth Evans in the team ahead of him for this game.

I also admit that I wanted Lowe brought off at half-time for Evans!

To me, he was lacking a bit of confidence, he had lost the ball a couple of times and even put it out for a Fleetwood corner.

But once he scored with that back-post header he looked a different player. Fair play to him for practising heading in the week. While the second goal was a corker.

That’s why I am not Kenny Jackett!

What did you make of the game?

Not a lot happened in the first half and I turned to my son and said as much – then Brett Pitman broke the deadlock!

I would have accepted that as the only goal of the game as we get used to League One and head to the mid-table finish I expect.

But I didn’t see a 4-1 victory coming – and it was with some comfort in the end.

Against a side with a respected manager who should have gone up last season, it shows we can compete with anyone in this league on our day.

Who was your man of the match?

For me, Pitman stood out, working hard, scoring two goals and willing to put his head in where it hurts.

Already we have a contender for goal of the season following his second strike into the far corner of the net.

It was a true captain’s performance and I loved it when he was substituted and he gave a triumphant fists up to the crowd. We love players getting involved.

I sit in the family section of the South stand and could see him being bandaged up at the end of the first half, yet he kept bleeding. They couldn’t stop it, but he was desperate to go back into the action.

Anyone else shine?

I actually thought Devante Cole’s strike was the best of the game.

Still, for us, Stuart O’Keefe is really important in the middle of the park, although I am not yet sure we have the right partner for him.

Ben Close was only really spraying the ball around and in control when we were 3-1 up.

It was a shame to see Damien McCrory go off injured, I’ve not seen enough of Dion Donohue yet to judge him.

And Nathan Thompson is good defensively, these days the mindset is there to defend rather than provide assists.

Ratings

Luke McGee 6

Nathan Thompson 7

Christian Burgess 7

Matt Clarke 7

Damien McCarey (Dion Donohue 6) 6

Ben Close 6

Stuart O’Keefe 8

Jamal Lowe 8

Brett Pitman 9

Matty Kennedy 7

Conor Chaplin 7