Gaffer: Kenny Jackett deserves credit for his Portsmouth substitutions against Shrewsbury

What did you make of that, Clarkie?

The first half was a bit boring, nothing really happened, but we deserved the win overall.

Shrewsbury didn’t offer anything apart from moaning at the ref and some over-the-top challenges. All they had was a long throw.

I liked the sight of substitute Ross McCrorie willing to bomb on down the right, with James Bolton being a defender and not really attack-minded.

And it was great to see John Marquis score his first goal in front of the Fratton end.

How important were the substitutions?

Give Kenny Jackett credit, the subs changed the game.

I must say, I have been one of his biggest critics, in October and November I would have been happy to see the back of him.

Now we’ve got Ronan Curtis in form, Ellis Harrison in form and, apart from the Coventry result, a Pompey team on a decent run.

I think we will go up this season if we keep going with these performances.

Who was your man of the match?

Harrison scored the first goal and was involved in the second – there’s a reason why Pompey are a lot better when he is in the side.

He holds it up miles better than John Marquis, we tend to keep the ball better when he is there, and he’s vital to us going up.

I see Harrison as an upgraded Oli Hawkins in that he scores goals, but also sets them up. Hawkins is probably better in the air, but Harrison is a better all-round player.

We saw in the first half against Sunderland and when he came on against Coventry that Pompey’s performances improve with him in the team.

So how do Pompey now approach Exeter in the Leasing.com Trophy?

Joe Gallen has already said we will be at full strength and I agree with him.

We have to go strong, we are one match away from Wembley, another game isn’t going to hurt the players.

This squad is a hell of a lot better than last season, there’s options in every position and all have different attributes. We have so much strength.

I’ll be there on Tuesday night and I’ve been to a couple in the competition this season. Surely everyone wants to watch Pompey at Wembley?

Alex Bass 7

James Bolton 6 (Ross McCrorie 7)

Christian Burgess 6

Sean Raggett 7

Steve Seddon 6

Tom Naylor 6

Cameron McGeehan 6

Marcus Harness 5

Gareth Evans 6 (John Marquis 7)

Ronan Curtis 6

Ellis Harrison 8