John Marquis: Patient Portsmouth got just rewards with Shrewsbury success

Kenny Jackett’s men today secured a 2-0 victory to mark a return to winning ways following the midweek loss at Coventry.

The 58th-minute introduction of Marquis and Ross McCrorie proved decisive, with both involved in the subsequent two goals.

Firstly, Ellis Harrison broke the deadlock on 64th minute when he headed home McCrorie’s right-wing cross.

Then Marquis registered his 12th goal of the campaign in the 82nd minute to claim another Fratton Park triumph.

The former Doncaster man said: ‘When they play three or five at the back, it does take time to break them down sometimes and, for whatever reason, we always seem to be stronger in the second half.

‘We are a fit team and going into the Fratton end, it’s like a 12th man, sucking the ball forward. To be honest, Shrewsbury never really caused us any problems today.

‘They had one shot maybe in the first half that Bassy saved, apart from that there wasn’t a lot, but they have a big back five which we knew could be a threat from set-pieces, which we defended really well.

‘We just had to make sure we didn’t lose our concentration and concede a sloppy goal, that eventually we would have enough to break them down – and we did.

‘It was great play by Ross and a great cross, then Ellis did what he does really well, which is peel off the back post and score.

‘For the second goal, space starts opening up, they have to come out a bit, and Marcus timed the pass really well, it took the defender out of the game, and gave me an opportunity to slot home.

‘We had to keep digging in, believing in what we wanted to try to do, and eventually got the result.’