Jackett lauds Pompey's second half Crawley performance

Kenny Jackett praised Pompey's second-half display after they fought back to win at Crawley.
Brett Pitman in action at Crawley. Picture: Neil MarshallBrett Pitman in action at Crawley. Picture: Neil Marshall
Brett Pitman in action at Crawley. Picture: Neil Marshall

Lining-up in their final pre-season friendly, the Blues fell behind to Thomas Verheydt’s third-minute header as they delivered a lacklustre opening 45 minutes.

Yet it was much improved after the break from the visitors as Brett Pitman struck twice to clinch a 2-1 victory.

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The summer signing levelled on 55 minutes with a wonderful right-foot free-kick, before claiming the winner 15 minutes from time with a dinking left-foot finish.

And Jackett was delighted with his team’s response to their disappointments of the first half.

He said: ‘Crawley deserved to be in the lead at half-time, but in the second half we had the majority of the play and scored two good goals which got us the win.

‘We didn’t do well enough at set-pieces and need to be more aggressive in our own box and make sure we handle size and power because it comes at you in every league.

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‘We were looking at the killer ball too much, they (Crawley) were quite open when we turned the ball over. Too many passes went long and we needed to play it shorter, be constructive, build up and try to control the game more.

‘We did that in the second half and looked more like a side that I want to see.

‘When your striker scores goals it’s a good thing, but it was a good free-kick from Brett and similarly so was the second goal.’