Leicester City loanee tackles Rotherham United critics and Portsmouth future after burying former club

George Hirst celebrates his goal against Rotherham last night. (Photo by Robin Jones - Digital South)George Hirst celebrates his goal against Rotherham last night. (Photo by Robin Jones - Digital South)
George Hirst celebrates his goal against Rotherham last night. (Photo by Robin Jones - Digital South)
George Hirst celebrated silencing his Rotherham critics and smiled: I’ve proved a point.

The Blues striker served up a man-of-the-match performance to put the promotion-chasing Millers to the sword at Fratton Park last night in the 3-0 win.

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Hirst bagged a goal and assist to take the home crowd acclaim who sang ‘sign him up’ in a message to the club’s owners.

The 23–year-old took his total for the season to 11 goals - with all of those finishes coming since November - to deliver another blow to his old side’s bid to reach the Championship.

The Leicester City man endured a wretched season at Rotherham, failing to score in 32 appearances and taking plenty of flak from Millers fans in the process.

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So it proved a sweet occasion for Hirst, as he showed his old loan club what he’s capable of delivering.

And with the loanee a wanted man at Pompey he’s looking forward to more of the same moving forward.

Hirst said: ‘Yes, I got criticism last season at Rotherham, sometimes rightly so.

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‘I’m not going to sit here and deny that - I wasn’t at the top of my game.

‘For me it was about going out and proving a point - hopefully I’ve done that.

‘I’d like to think I’ve been able to prove a few people wrong and prove myself right.

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‘I know what I can do and my family know what I can do, so it’s been about going out there and doing that.

‘It’s been a good six months - and hopefully there’s more to come.’

After having difficulties at Rotherham and taking time to settle at Pompey, Hirst told how it’s heartening to feel the appreciation of supporters.

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His confidence is on a high as a result - as seen as played a crucial role in one of the best goals seen this season.

Hirst received a ball from Gavin Bazunu and beat Dan Barlaser, before leaving pacy Jordi Osei-Tutu for dead and laying on a finish for Marcus Harness.

The former Sheffield Wednesday man then produced a measured finish to wrap up the win with 25 minutes remaining.

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Hirst added: ‘It’s always nice to get that little bit of recognition.

‘For me to get that recognition and to win the game 3-0 against a team as good as Rotherham are, because there’s no hiding from the fact they are a very, very good side in this division, is brilliant.

‘For me it’s been an unbelievable learning experience here.

‘To come here and score a few goals feels as good as it gets really.

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‘I wanted to come here and put in as good as performance as I could every week.

‘It’s taken me some time to find my feet, but I’d like to think once I’ve got going I’ve started to be able to show what I could do.’

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