How Portsmouth are showing signs of the key trait Danny Cowley saw in his successful sides at Lincoln City and Huddersfield

After achieving two promotions at Lincoln, before keeping Huddersfield in the Championship in 2020 – the Blues head coach explained how his old teams have benefitted from a never-say-die attitude.

And his current crop reflected this quality against the U’s, by winning from a losing position in the league for the second time this term.

When Marcus Browne had opened the scoring for the visitors, sections of the Fratton faithful would have been forgiven for fearing the worst.

But those in royal blue weren’t shell-shocked as they were against the Cod Army, and swung the pendulum in their favour by leading 2-1 at half-time.

Hayden Carter then secured three points with a phenomenal strike in the second half – despite heightened nerves after Luke McNally pulled a goal back with 10 minutes remaining.

As a result, Pompey have now gained 10 points from losing positions this season – half the amount of MK Dons’ tally-leading total of 20.

The Fratton outfit, in fact, have gained the lowest amount of points after facing adversity, than any other side within the top 10.

And overall, their total sees them sit 15th in a table composed of points gained from losing positions – reflecting Cowley’s concern over how his side dealt with adversity aired at the start of the year.

Last night’s success is not the first time they've ended a miserable run of this kind, though.

It took the Blues until November to do so this season, when goals from Michael Jacobs and Marcus Harness overcame AFC Wimbledon’s early lead.

The victory against the Dons had concluded a stretch of eight matches where they failed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

However, in Cowley’s first game as Fratton chief, they did just that.

Goals from Tom Naylor and Harness cancelled out James Norwood’s strike in March 2021 to hand the 43-year-old the perfect start at the club.

And he told The News after the dramatic Fleetwood draw: ‘You can criticise my teams over the last 15 years for lots of things, but never for the lack of fight, going to the end or giving it everything you've got.’

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