Colchester 0 Pompey 4: Gaffer for a day

Gaffer for a day Jay Simster gives his verdict on Pompey's 4-0 win at U's.

Well, that was a great win, how good a performance was that?

Yeah it was great, I thought from back to front we were excellent on Saturday.

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There wasn’t one player who didn’t put in a performance and it was great to see them play as a team yet again.

Since Crewe last Saturday we’ve had two big wins – against Crawley and a Colchester team with play-off ambitions – which could be important come the end of the season.

You mentioned the Crewe game there, do you think Pompey have turned a corner now?

I hope so! We’ve been inconsistent all season and it’s hard to put your finger on why that is.

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Maybe it’s just a bit of complacency from the players, but our last two games have been great.

Michael Doyle and Danny Rose have looked good since getting back together in the centre of midfield so hopefully they can add a bit more stability to the side.

How impressed were you with Rose, in particular?

I thought he was fantastic against Colchester!

Like I say, I really like him and Doyle in the middle of midfield.

I think having the captain in there allows Rose to get forward a bit more because Doyle is a solid, old-school midfielder who is happy to protect the back four all day.

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Rose can sit back and defend, too, but having Doyle in there does give him more freedom to venture forward. I think Amine Linganzi did really well when he was in there, but it’s good to see Rose back in there and hopefully he can help us to another three points on Tuesday.

After that great performance against the U’s, do you see Pompey getting another win on Tuesday?

I don’t see why not.

We’re four points clear now in the top three, and if we play like we did against Colchester then I think we can get those three points against Grimsby at Fratton Park.

We’ve struggled a bit at home of late, but if we can take our away form into our home games then we should have enough to win.

Jay’s ratings: David Forde 8, Gareth Evans 8, Christian Burgess 8, Matt Clarke 8, Enda Stevens 8, Danny Rose 9, Michael Doyle 8, Carl Baker 8, Kal Naismith 9, Kyle Bennett 9, Eoin Doyle 9