Gaffer: Portsmouth are performing beyond my expectations- but no open-topped bus yet, please

Who was your man of the match?

Sean Raggett came in for his first league start of the season and it looked like he’d been playing every week, he was absolutely flawless.

I don’t think he missed a header, won everything on the ground, and even came close to scoring from a corner when his header was cleared off the line.

Raggett was outstanding and if Regan Poole wasn’t the quality player he is, he’d struggle to get back into Pompey’s team.

Joe Morrell was a close second, he got more and more influential, doing the work of two men in the absence of Marlon Pack and Alex Robertson, and Colby Bishop also did well.

What did you make of the first half?

It was totally forgettable, too pedestrian, moving the ball too slowly, summed up by throw-ins involving nobody moving to receive the ball.

We didn’t seem to be on it and, once we got to 30 minutes, almost seemed to stop working and stop playing, just like Wycombe in the week.

We were fortunate it was against a side without anyone up front. A better team and we might have been punished. As it was, we were lucky not to be losing at half-time.

The interval came at the right time. There was room for improvement – and thankfully that’s what happened.

Ah yes, the game of two halves.

In the second half we moved the ball quicker, got the ball out wide, and looked a totally different team.

Once we got two goals in five minutes through Bishop, there was only one team in it.

We suffered because Raggett is not as comfortable on the ball as Poole, it was sideways, sideways and back in the first half, while Marlon Pack isn’t around to drop short for the pass.

Still, Saturday was a huge test of the size and depth of the squad. Ben Stevenson can do a job, but if he was as good as Pack then he’d be in the side – but we still won 2-0.

So how do you see this season?

Pompey are performing beyond my expectations, but I’m not yet planning celebrations on the seafront and an open-topped bus, there’s a long way to go.

Before the season I could see us finishing fifth or sixth to make the play-offs, it’s a very good squad. The concern was we don’t have a second centre-forward, so if we lost Bishop then we would struggle

I’m still not sure about that. We’ve learnt Christian Saydee is a huge changer of games when he comes off the bench, but when he starts doesn’t have he same impact.

Still, I would rather be top so that when the inevitable bad run happens we drop to third or fourth – than being sixth and falling to eighth or ninth.

Will Norris – 6

Joe Rafferty – 6

Sean Raggett – 8

Conor Shaughnessy – 7

Jack Sparkes – 7

Joe Morrell – 8

Ben Stevenson – 5

Christian Saydee – 6

Paddy Lane – 7

Colby Bishop – 8

Abu Kamara – 6