Andy Cannon: Portsmouth must discover ruthless streak

Kenny Jackett’s men came within 11 minutes of what would have been a disappointing point from Saturday’s visit of an uninspiring AFC Wimbledon.

Joe Pigott’s second-half leveller arrived out of the blue to stun the Fratton faithful, who thought their team were set for a comfortable victory.

A draw would have been unpalatable considering how the Blues had dominated against the League One strugglers, wasting opportunities to put the game beyond reach.

Eventually substitute John Marquis headed home on 79 minutes to claim a 2-1 triumph, lifting the Blues into seventh spot, their highest placing of the season.

And the relief was obvious among the Fratton faithful as well as the players.

Cannon said: ‘We got the three points which was the main thing, but should have punished them in the first half.

‘We could have had two or three goals and didn’t, then they came back into the game, yet we found a way to win.

‘We were by far the better team but you can’t be on top all game, I suppose, although we should have punished them – we didn’t and then they came back into it.

‘What we need is to start finishing sides off, the top teams do it, we need to start punishing teams right away so the game is already done by half-time.

‘We need to be more ruthless, Marcus scored a great goal and then John came on and scored, we just need to be consistent with it.

‘Hopefully in the second half of the season we are.’

Cannon aided Marcus Harness’ 20th-minute opener, representing the winger’s sixth goal of the campaign.

It was a first league assist for the midfielder, who has re-emerged in the last month to figure in Jackett’s plans.

The former Rochdale man added: ‘Wimbledon ended up being the better team after that goal, with a 15-minute spell.

‘It’s tough at times, that’s football for you, we just needed the right mentality to get back in and get three points, which we showed.’