A Portsmouth promotion storm is brewing - and this is how Christian Burgess sees path to glory developing

And the Blues match winner has called on his team-mates to maintain the graft and team ethic which is turning around their season, after the 1-0 win at Bolton.

Kenny Jackett’s men maintained their unbeaten start to 2020, with it now just two defeats in 19 games after victory at the University of Bolton Stadium.

Pompey had to battle for the success, however, as Keith Hill’s side came on strong after the visitors were the better side before the break.

Unlike other times this season, the rearguard action withstood the pressure as Jackett’s side stood firm and put their bodies on the line.

Pompey were just four points off the automatic promotion spots before Wycombe’s 94th-minute winner against Rochdale.

Burgess feels there is quiet storm brewing at Fratton Park and an understated conviction about what the team can achieve.

He said: ‘I’m quietly optimistic. We’ve got a great squad with lots of depth. Things are starting to come together.

‘It’s still early days and there’s plenty which can happen.

‘But we’re quietly optimistic, we just need to keep our heads down and keep grinding.

‘We need to keep working hard. There’s a good team ethic in our performances.

‘We’re all working hard for each other, as we saw with the boys who came on.

‘That’s really good from us and impressive to see.

‘The league is wide open. We still have loads of games to go.

‘There’s plenty of opportunities to pick up points.

‘It’s important to grind out wins like that. It would have been desperately disappointing to have conceded and only take a point.

‘It’s important to build on this, keep our excellent home record going and pick up as many points on the road as we can.’

Burgess chose the perfect time to open his account for the season and grab the ninth goal of his Pompey career.

It’s the first time a central defender has scored a goal since the 28-year-old was on the scoresheet against Peterborough in April.

That stat is one which needs to improve, but Burgess can see that happening as his side up their threat from set-pieces.

He added: ‘It’s been a while. We’ve scored a couple of set-pieces recently, so it has been getting better.

‘Hopefully we can score a couple more now.

‘It’s important to chip in because we have a fairly tall side so we should be doing better.

‘The delivery has been great recently so our eyes are lighting up when we go forward.’