Marcus Harness: My best Portsmouth display - and there's plenty more to come

The summer recruit from Burton produced the finest display of his fledgling Blues career in Saturday’s trip to Sunderland.

Kenny Jackett’s men slipped to a 2-1 defeat in a tight affair, with Harness registering his maiden goal for the club.

His 22nd minute effort had presented the visitors with the lead, yet ultimately Pompey suffered a second defeat in three League One games.

Regardless of the outcome, it was a man-of-the-match display from Harness in his fourth Blues outing.

Having now moved down to the area, the 23-year-old believes he is settled both on and off the pitch.

And he’s relishing the opportunity to continue justifying a £1m price tag.

Harness said: ‘I think that was my best performance for the club so far.

‘I’m still settling down, but am starting to get settled off the pitch and have now got somewhere to live in Portsmouth.

‘That is going to help on the pitch, I’ve just got to keep working and keep trying to improve on the last game.

‘Hopefully, for me, there will be more performances like that, more goals and more assists. I feel there will be.

‘It took me one or two games to get into things, but it’s not much different to what I am used to. The manager asks for similar things and I am starting to know what he wants from me.

‘Me and John (Marquis) are still getting to know each other, it’s coming along, it’s encouraging, the more we play together the more it will start to click.

‘Hopefully I can keep improving and can show some more.’

Jamal Lowe last season netted 17 times from the right wing, all arriving from open play.

In comparison, Harness’ Stadium of Light strike was the seventh of burgeoning career.

Inevitably, the former Burton man will be expected to also contribute to Pompey’s goal tally while operating in the same role.

Saturday represented getting off the mark early in the 23-year-old’s Fratton Park career as he establishes himself in Jackett’s side.

And Harness is confident he can continue providing the firepower to the Blues’ promotion bid.

He added: ‘Scoring is a big part of my game, although it did take me a while when I started playing first-team football to settle down.

‘When you get into those positions sometimes you panic and think “It’s a goal, it’s a goal” but then end up shanking it.

‘I’m a lot more comfortable, I feel like I belong here, and hopefully can be more composed and finish chances off, adding goals to my game.’