Gaffer: Pompey deserved point against Shrews

Oli Hawkins was selected ahead of Brett Pitman. Picture: Joe Pepler

• Did Pompey deserve a draw against Shrewsbury?

I felt if you were watching the game as a neutral then you’d probably say Pompey did deserve something from the game.

We had a penalty shout and there’s no two ways about it – it should have been a spot-kick.

Our gaffer reckons the Shrews were fortunate to win the game. Picture: Joe Pepler

I thought we should have defended Shrewsbury’s goal better but, other than that, they really didn’t create a great deal.

Apart from a couple of corners where they looked a bit dangerous, Shrewsbury didn’t create a great deal for a side who are second in the table.

If we’d got a point then it would have definitely been deserved.

• Did you get a good look of the handball by Shaun Whalley?

I think 99.9 per cent of referees would gave given a penalty.

Personally, I’m not one to criticise referees too much but it’s hard not to on this occasion.

It looked a stonewall penalty. It’s easy to say looking at the replays back now but even during the game there wasn’t a soul in the ground who thought it wasn’t a penalty except the referee.

But that’s football and these things happen.

In truth, I felt Christian Burgess handled one in the second half for us.

You could argue Shrewsbury should have had a penalty as well.

• Were you surprised Brett Pitman was dropped?

I wasn’t actually. When I did my preview to the game, I didn’t go with Pitman. I thought he’d been struggling recently.

Nevertheless, I was quite impressed with his performance when he did come on.

He probably had a point to prove, which is what we want from him and if he starts the next game, he needs to go with that approach.

With Pitman firing on all cylinders, it’s only a good thing for Pompey.

• Do Pompey need to strengthen before the January transfer window closes then?

We definitely need someone in the middle of the park with a bit more experience.

I think Ben Close and Adam May got exposed in central midfield.

Close has been fantastic this season but a lot of that has been alongside Danny Rose and Stuart O’Keefe.

Perhaps we need to strengthen and get a midfielder with a bit of experience in – we need a bit of a Michael Doyle but slightly younger.

• Nath’s ratings: Luke McGee 7; Nathan Thompson 7; Christian Burgess 6; Matt Clarke 6; Dion Donohue 6; Ben Close 6; Adam May 5; Gareth Evans 8; Kal Naismith 7; Jamal Lowe (Brett Pitman 7) 5; Oli Hawkins 6