Kenny Jackett responds to intense Portsmouth pressure he's facing ahead of Sunderland

Kenny Jackett tackled the intense pressure he’s facing and accepted: The buck stops with me.
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The Pompey boss has discussed the strain he’s under at battling with his side’s woeful form as the wheels come off their season.

But the 59-year-old is adamant he can deal with the heat and find the solutions which are desperately needed to turn the team’s fortunes around.

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Fan anger is justifiably at a high in the wake of the abject 4-1 defeat at Northampton on Saturday, with in-form Sunderland arriving at Fratton Park next.

Jackett believes he can handle the fury being aimed at him, however, and reverse Pompey’s slump.

He said: ‘The nature of it is as a manager is the buck stops with me. I know that and accept that.

‘The results have been disappointing and hard to take. You do feel it 100 per cent as a manager. There is no doubt about it.

Pompey boss Kenny JackettPompey boss Kenny Jackett
Pompey boss Kenny Jackett
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‘To be able to make sure you can put that right is everything in your thinking.

‘It envelopes you, and quite rightly so, because you should be committed to turning things around and putting on a performance that builds confidence with the players.

‘All you can do is plan the next session and the next game.

‘There has to be an accurate assessment of what you need to do and where you need to improve. That’s as a team.

‘Then you need to set the mood moving forward to put things right with good performances and good results - starting on Tuesday.

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‘Since the turn of the year we’ve been inconsistent. There’s been spells when we’ve played well, but we haven’t been consistent and the results have decelerated.

‘Nobody is more disappointed or frustrated about that than the manager. That’s the case with myself, definitely.’

Pompey now face a testing run of league fixtures with Sunderland’s visit the pre-cursor to a trip to high-flying Peterborough before Paul Cook’s Ipswich come to Fratton Park, while there’s also the Papa John’s Trophy final against Salford on Saturday to consider.

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He added: ‘There is pressure. It’s a privileged position we’re all in at Portsmouth, players and manager. We understand that.

‘For the board, they’re disappointed like we all are. They’re disappointed and were disappointed with Saturday.

‘There hasn’t been any more or less conversations than there would be ordinarily between the board, manager and coaching staff.

‘Of course they’re disappointed like we all were. For us moving forward now we have to focus on putting things right.

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‘It’s our job to deliver and it’s our job right now to respond. That’s where it is.

‘For the players, they’re capable of it. When we get our game right we’re capable of beating anyone in this division.

‘Sometimes the big games are the best ones to play.

‘If we get our game right we can be a match for anyone in the division. We’ve proved that this year.

‘We’ve gone away and won at many big clubs and put in big performances. We are capable of it, but we have to improve and get better.’

A message from the editor

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On Saturday, March 13 Pompey will finally get their day at Wembley.

To celebrate the Blues’ place in the rearranged 2020 EFL Trophy Final, The News has launched an offer that gets you 25% off all our Sports subscriptions.

You can choose your perfect Sports subscription here and use the discount code ROADTOWEMBLEY25 to get the latest news from Fratton Park for less. Offer runs until midnight on March 15.

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