Kenny Jackett: Birmingham loanee Steve Seddon the reason why Portsmouth centre-halves now a goal threat
Steve Seddon has been pinpointed as instrumental in finally unlocking the goal potential of Pompey’s centre-halves.
Christian Burgess was the matchwinner over struggling Bolton on Saturday as the Blues claimed a third League One away victory of the campaign.
It also represented the first goal registered by a Pompey central defender in almost nine months.
Burgess was the previous scorer, netting in April’s 3-2 home defeat to Peterborough – 39 matches ago.
Saturday’s contribution was a left-footed finish after Sean Raggett’s header from Seddon’s right-wing free-kick was initially saved.
And Kenny Jackett believes the Birmingham loanee’s set-piece delivery has generated a much-needed goal threat.
Pompey’s boss said: ‘I have felt that if you are going to have a successful season, the centre-halves sometimes need to be getting between five and 10 goals.
‘We went through almost a third of the season without any of them scoring and I didn’t think we were quite doing enough from set-pieces.
‘That hasn’t been the case in the last few weeks and we have improved in that area and needed to.
‘Seddon’s delivery has made a difference.
‘If you look at Fleetwood, there was a goal (from a corner), and on Saturday from Seddon’s wide free-kick there’s a goal, so that’s one quite obvious reason for how it has changed.
‘We always work on (attacking) set-pieces and sometimes you can labour a point where you then lose confidence as well.
‘If you are looking for the outstanding difference, it is probably Seddon because the goals have been scored off his deliveries.’
A third-straight victory in all competitions was underpinned by an 11th clean sheet this season.
And Jackett was also quick to praise the defensive capabilities of his preferred central-defensive pairing.
He added: ‘Their main job is to defend and get clean sheets, like they did on Saturday, which I am delighted with, it’s a great clean sheet.
‘But, for them, we went a third of the season without my centre-backs contributing from set-pieces and if you want a successful season they can make the difference.
‘That was a vital goal on Saturday, but mainly their contribution was defensively and that clean sheet gave us something to hold onto.’