Loan man impressed by Blues backing

The on-loan Sunderland midfielder turned in one of his best displays in his short spell at Fratton Park during the 2-0 loss at Bournemouth.

And he pointed to a moment in the game when he understood the difference the vocal backing from the travelling Pompey fans can make to a player.

Reed explained: ‘I’m enjoying it down here.

‘You see how much this club means to the fans here. I went into a tackle over near them and they all roared for me.

‘I tackled their lad quite hard and he had a little whinge, so our fans started getting on his back a bit.

‘But when you get that kind of support it gives you that little extra boost.

‘It really helps you to keep going for the 90 minutes and I want to do my best to help this club get a few results.

‘The fans are great, the manager has been great with me and as each game goes on I feel more of a part of the team.

‘We just need to end this run and things will look a lot more positive.’

The midfielder, who was used in an unfamiliar wide-left midfield role, felt there were plenty of reasons to be encouraged as Pompey stuck to their task against a Bournemouth side who look destined for promotion.

‘We haven’t been played off the park in any game since I’ve been here,’ said Reed.

‘And Bournemouth are a very good side but it took them a long time to break us down.

‘If we stick together, I think we are going in the right direction.

‘We have to stick together like we did in the first half and the start of the second half.

‘Everyone worked really hard to make sure we were hard to beat.

‘We will keep working hard and the fans knew how hard we worked.’

While Pompey now travel to Hartlepool tomorrow attempting to avoid an unwanted new club record of games without a win, Reed insists the mood is still positive.

He said: ‘You don’t think about the run. You take it game by game and you don’t think about losing all the time.

‘You have to stay positive because if you have negative thoughts, it will come out on the pitch.

‘We will go up there and give it everything we’ve got.’

– STEVE WILSON