Pompey v Carlisle: Gaffer for a day

What can you say about this Pompey? If the team who beat Accrington and Notts County turn up, we’ll be fine.

If it’s the side who performed against Newport County, we’re going to be in trouble.

It’s not going to be an easy game, as Carlisle showed when they beat Bristol Rovers on Monday.

So it just depends on which Pompey turns up and how we start the game.

It’s up to us to go out, win the game and go on a run which could get us automatically promoted.

We now need to win virtually all of our games to ensure there’s a chance of that happening.

It was good to see the confidence back among the players against Notts County.

All of the flicks and tricks were coming off and the confidence was there from the crowd. That makes a big difference.

I’ve been impressed with Ben Davies this season.

He has been up and down that right flank, is always in the right place, and puts in superb crosses.

There’s a lot of players you could highlight, though.

I like Kyle Bennett, who has been playing well. He always keeps looking for the ball and won’t stop trying to make things happen.

Then there’s Enda Stevens and Adam Webster, who’s shown what a good player he is now he’s in his proper position in central defence.

There are some tough calls for Cookie to make head of the game.

Paul Jones didn’t have much to do against Notts County, but came back and kept a clean sheet. I’d probably go with Ryan Fulton.

Some people aren’t sure about Michael Smith, but he did well last Friday.

I’d start with him and have either Marc McNulty or Conor Chaplin coming off the bench.