Pompey boss reflects on excellent Pitman business

Brett Pitman talks with boss Kenny Jackett at Oldham. Picture: Joe Pepler

Now Brett Pitman has become the first Pompey player in 15 years to register 20 goals in a season.

An excellent piece of business for Jackett, who signed the striker from Ipswich Town for an undisclosed fee in July 2017.

With six matches remaining – and potentially the play-offs – there is every opportunity for Pitman to further chase down Svetoslav Todorov’s 26-goal tally from the 2002-03 campaign.

And Jackett is understandably delighted with the outcome of one of his early Fratton Park recruits.

Pompey’s boss said: ‘Congratulations to Brett for that achievement, it’s a very good one.

‘Hopefully he has not finished yet because there’s a lot for us to look forward to and play for.

‘He’s got goals everywhere he’s been and things suited him coming to Portsmouth geographically, everybody knew that, we felt we got him at the right time.

‘He has been a key player for us and got some key goals.

‘On Monday it was giving us a lead to hold on to, which was exactly what we needed because the first goal was going to be key.

‘A player getting 20 goals in a season doesn’t happen often and there are different ways of maybe spreading things around.

‘We will see how many goals Brett continues to get, we want him to keep pushing on. We don’t want him to rest, I am sure he won’t anyway, it’s not what he is about. He will want to score as many as he can.’

Pitman will seek to add to his tally at Rochdale on Saturday.

His goals have contributed to four successive victories – a late-season surge which has put the Blues on the brink of the play-offs.

Only goal difference is presently preventing seventh-placed Pompey from entering that prized top six.

Jackett added: ‘We have worked hard to get where we are. We’ve been really grafting to stay on the coat tails of the top six at different times and hardly been in the bottom half, which is an achievement.

‘However, we haven’t consistently been a top-six side, so to get there at the end of December was an achievement with a very good run through November and December.

‘We are there and thereabouts in terms of points – and, importantly, our season is ahead of us.’