Obita goal was straight out of coaching manual

The on-loan Reading winger came up with the perfect way to introduce himself to the travelling Blues fans after he tapped home the equaliser in last night’s 2-2 draw at Colchester – just hours after signing a one-month deal at Fratton Park.

The wide man had only been on the pitch a matter of seconds after he replaced Jack Compton as a substitute moments after Colchester had gone 2-1 up.

But after Luke Rodgers – who netted Pompey’s first goal – saw his shot cannon back off the foot of the post, there was Obita to grab the leveller and earn a second successive League One draw for Pompey.

Obita said: ‘I haven’t trained with the lads at all.

‘I signed on the morning of the game and I just met the other guys on the coach on the way up.

‘We chatted about a few things on the journey but you can’t work on too many tactics on the coach!

‘I knew Brian Howard and Mikkel Andersen from Reading.

‘And I know Izale McLeod, so it wasn’t like I didn’t know anyone.

‘But it was brilliant to come on and score on my debut as well.

‘I just tried to get into good positions and when Luke had the shot, I just made sure I followed it up.

‘To be honest, you shouldn’t miss those and I just had to be there at the right time, I suppose.

‘I just knew I had to keep it low and the keeper wouldn’t save it.

‘But it was great to do it in front of our fans.

‘They made so much noise all night.’

Rodgers opened the scoring as he tucked home Liam Walker’s delightful through ball but Pompey were pegged back on the stroke of half-time, before falling behind seven minutes from time.

Obita, however, ensured Pompey got the point their display merited.

And he is keen to make the most of his Fratton Park stay.

He said: ‘I knew about Portsmouth’s interest two weeks ago and they have been trying to get it sorted.

‘I was keen to come as soon as I knew about it. This is a great club to be at.

‘It’s Portsmouth. It’s a Premier League club and they always will be in my eyes.

‘I wanted to come and I’m glad I did.

‘You see all of those fans at Colchester on a Tuesday night and everyone knows what it’s like at Fratton Park.

‘Players want to play in front of fans like that and it’s another reason I wanted to come.

‘Now I just hope to build on this start and show people what I can do.’