Gaffer: Tom Naylor is Portsmouth's best player - and Oxford United was another star showing

How did Pompey play?

It wasn't quite what we have been used to recently, a cagey affair, and we were not quite at our best.

Until Craig MacGillivray made that save on 62 minutes, Oxford were not bothering us at all. Karl Robinson probably won that point with his triple substitution.

Once Marcus McGuane got on the ball, he started driving them forward. I suppose their manager was always going to make them more attacking when 1-0 down at that point.

However, we were too slow to react to those changes and did the Pompey thing of sitting back.

Pompey were frustrated about two major incidents. What do you think?

I thought Oxford’s penalty was a terrible decision. Jack Whatmough got the ball, but the referee was the wrong side of him to see it.

It wasn’t even as if their players were appealing either. I didn’t see many shouting for it.

The other one was in the first half when Ellis Harrison was taken out while through on goal. The decision in Pompey’s favour would have been a game changer, their guy should have been sent off.

It wasn’t a penalty, as Harrison was outside the box, but the defender caught him as he attempted to clear.

There was no reason for Harrison to go down once he knocks that ball past. If the referee can’t see that, why doesn't the linesman?

Who was your man of the match?

For me, Tom Naylor is Pompey’s best player. He’s the most important and the first person on the team sheet.

He’s so vital to how we play, with goals an extra bonus at the moment. His ability to cover when someone is out of position is fantastic.

It was another excellent game from him against Oxford. The way he sits when we counter is so important.

Yet he didn’t even play against Oxford in the play-offs. Bryn Morris is seemingly a favourite of Kenny’s for no reason I know. I will never, ever understand why.

You’ve seen the picture of Matty Taylor and Ronan Curtis, what should happen?

I must admit, I turned iFollow off at the final whistle, so missed what happened afterwards.

All credit to Ronan Curtis for seemingly not reacting to Taylor grabbing his genitals in the middle of that melee.

I assume that will be a three-game ban, you can’t go around doing that.

What I also noticed, though, was how the players were backing up their team-mate when it all initially started. Says a lot about the team spirit at present.

Craig MacGillivray 8

Callum Johnson 7

Jack Whatmough 7

Sean Raggett 7

Lee Brown 7

Marcus Harness 6

Tom Naylor 9

Andy Cannon 7

Ronan Curtis 7

John Marquis 6

Ellis Harrison 6

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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