Hawkins: I can fill void left by Pompey skipper

The 25-year-old bagged the crucial second goal which handed Pompey a much-needed 2-1 success at struggling Fleetwood last night.

That came on Hawkins’ return to leading the line from the outset at Highbury Stadium.

With Pompey’s top scorer sidelined with a hamstring injury, the former non-league marksman looks set to again feature in the role against Blackpool on Saturday.

After bagging his eighth goal of the season Hawkins believes he continue to provide a threat in the final third.

He said: ‘Pits (Pitman) is a main player for us.

‘He’s a brilliant striker who scores brilliant goals. I look up to him as a striker and so does Conor Chaplin.

‘It’s tough coming into a game knowing we didn’t have three key players in the squad, but I thought we coped well and I was happy to get myself a goal and the three points.

‘I’ve been moving about a bit from defence to attack.

‘It looks like I’m going to be focus on attack for a few weeks with Brett out.

‘I’m looking to lead the line and score some goals for Portsmouth.’

Hawkins was part of the late rearguard action as Fleetwood pressed for a leveller and felt his team deserved character for their resolve.

He added: ‘We dug in and on other occasions lately we may have conceded and ended up drawing.

‘I thought we dug in and the defence held their own to get the win.

‘When teams score you can end up dropping deeper. It does happen.

‘I’m glad we managed to come out of it.’

– JORDAN CROSS