Portsmouth boss has no complaints after ‘spirited’ performance

The Blues went down to a 2-0 fourth-round replay defeat at the hands of the R’s at Loftus Road, with second-half strikes from Nahki Wells and Matt Smith edging the Londoners through to a fifth-round tie against Watford.

Until the opening goal, Pompey never looked daunted by the Hoops’ greater share of possession, with Matt Clarke and Oli Hawkins in good form at either end of the pitch.

And it was their performance, coupled with a battling display from the rest of the Blues team that gave Jackett much comfort – despite their exit from the competition.

‘It was a game performance from us,’ said Jackett.

‘At times we moved the ball well and switched it well, but the majority of times couldn’t find the shots to trouble Queens Park Rangers.

‘At the end, we had a good flurry, Clarke had a chance, Lowe, Evans got himself into a good position and for six or seven minutes we had a few efforts and shots. 

‘But for all of the hold-up play from Hawkins, we couldn’t find the shots, we couldn’t find the man in one v one situations and a combination of those combinations have put QPR in the next round of the competition.

‘We can’t have any complaints – we were very spirited tonight, definitely.’