Ertl: We'll go down fighting

Ertl feels the manner in which Pompey grafted for a 0-0 draw at Victoria Park proved there is still a battling spirit amongst the Blues players.

The result means caretaker boss Guy Whittingham’s side avoided making it 10 losses on the bounce and setting a new club record for successive defeats.

But it is still 20 games without a win for Pompey – which is the worst sequence of its kind in their history.

The loss stops the rot, however, and Ertl was pleased with the resolve shown by the Blues players.

Now the challenge from the Austrian is to go one better and deliver a win against Carlisle at Fratton Park on Saturday.

Ertl said: ‘It was a battling performance and we showed we are a team.

‘I’m really proud of my team-mates because we have shown in difficult circumstances that we are fighting for Portsmouth.

‘We take that forward and we take the spirit that we showed forward into the game against Carlisle and go looking for three points.

‘There are things going on around the club, but we can still build a team spirit and show what we can do.

‘Now we have to build on this.’

Ertl also lauded a much-needed clean sheet for Pompey to cheer the 280 away fans who made the long trip to Hartlepool on a Tuesday night for the rearranged game.

He said: ‘It’s a well-deserved point and reward for those fans who travelled a long way north.

‘I was pleased for them to see the team fight and keep a clean sheet. The clean sheet is the most important thing to take from this.’