Brandon Haunstrup praises 'unreal' Portsmouth fans after Southampton loss

Kenny Jackett’s men were unable to pull off an upset against Southampton in the third round of the Carabao Cup.

The Blues fell to a 4-0 loss to the Premier League outfit at Fratton Park. 

Yet home fans were raucous throughout the encounter – from the first until the final whistle.

And despite Pompey suffering disappointment to their bitter rivals, Haunstrup – who hails from Waterlooville – thanked supporters for continuing to make noise even when victory was beyond reach. 

The left-back said: ‘The fans were unreal.

‘Walking around at the end of the game, it just put things into perspective how lucky you are to play in front of them.

‘Especially when they are like that, it was unreal. They gave everything for us for 90 minutes.

‘It’s the sort of game I want to play in, obviously not the outcome I wanted, but there are some positives to take from it.’

Pompey paid the price for not taking their opportunities against Southampton.

The hosts started far the brighter team, with John Marquis clipping the post and Brett Pitman being denied by two fine Alex McCarthy saves within 18 minutes.

In contrast, Danny Ings was clinical for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men and finished off two counter-attacks to hand the visitors the advantage at half-time. 

Cedric and Nathan Redmond increased the St Mary’s outfit’s lead after the interval.

Nevertheless, Haunstrup still fancied Pompey to get back into the game when they were trailing.

But the academy graduate ultimately felt Southampton’s ruthlessness proved crucial.

He added: ‘I definitely did (think the goal was going to come)

‘Pits had a good chance and there was a few others as well.

‘Even at the start of the second half, they’ll 2-0 up but you still fancied us to score)

‘Ronan had a good chance and a few of the others boys did. 

‘It just didn’t fall for us and we’ve just got to tighten up a few things and we’ll be alright.

‘The difference was it took them one pass on the counter-attack.

‘They knew were they were going and were good at it – you can’t take that away from them.’