Gallen: Pompey have regained their confidence

The out-of-form Blues suffered a dispiriting 2-0 loss against Gary Bowyer’s outfit last weekend.

Kenny Jackett’s side hit their lowest ebb of the campaign in what was a poor performance all round.

Gallen admitted he ‘wasn’t happy’ with Pompey’s display against the Tangerines.

However, he feels there’s still an opportunity for the Blues to grab one of the League One play-off places.

And with that belief instilled into the team, the players have reacted well in training this week.

The Blues were scheduled to travel to Bradford on Saturday, but the game has fallen victim to the heavy snow in West Yorkshire.

‘The training sessions on Monday and Tuesday, in particular, were very good,’ said Gallen.

‘We had the balls out and we managed to put some confidence back into the players.

‘When you’re a player, and as staff, you’re hoping there will be a game as quickly as possible.

‘We could have done with a game on Tuesday night, really.

‘It wasn’t the case, though.

‘We lost to Blackpool and we were not happy with the performance – especially in the second half.

‘However, the opportunity is still there (to get promoted).

‘There’s a run there for someone.

‘Some team can get on a run and claim those fifth and sixth spots, but it feels like no-one else wants to do that. It’s open for us to do it.’

Despite the ‘Beast from the East’ sweeping the south coast, Pompey managed to carry out two full training sessions this week.

Gallen saluted the ground staff at the Blues’ Roko training base.

Although the game at Valley Parade has been postponed, Jackett’s trusted lieutenant reckoned Pompey’s preparations hadn’t been hampered too badly.

‘The ground staff have done pretty well for us,’ he added.

‘We were able to do pretty much normal training sessions on Monday and Tuesday.

‘Today they put a cover on the pitch for us but it was still frozen underneath, although we did manage to get outside.

‘We were inside the gym doing some physical work then were outside doing some running.

‘Our preparations were slightly upset but overall we’ve had two training sessions.

‘Normally three or four training sessions anyway would be pretty normal for us.’

– WILL ROONEY