Jackett: Pompey victory thoroughly deserved

Oli Hawkins celebrates his goal against Fleetwood. Picture: Mark Robinson

The Blues boss named a starting line-up with an average age of 22.5, such was the extent of injury and unavailability within his Fratton Park squad.

The response was excellent, with Jamal Lowe and Oli Hawkins handing the visitors a 2-0 lead at Highbury Stadium.

Fleetwood substitute Conor McAleny netted a stunning consolation on 81 minutes for a tense finale, but Pompey held on.

And Jackett was adamant the victory was warranted.

He said: ‘It is always a tricky game at Fleetwood on a Tuesday night when they have just changed their manager, so for us it was a great win and I felt deserved.

‘It was an excellent first goal from Jamal Lowe, but I always felt we needed a second and had quite a number of chances before we did that through Oli Hawkins.

‘There were some nervous moments at the end through four minutes of injury time, but we saw it through very well with them having no real shots on goal or opportunities that worked Luke McGee.

‘For a young team, with all the injuries we had, it was a well-balanced team, it was a hungry team - it was a team that had good spirit and worked very hard.’