Millwall loanee Mahlon Romeo on Portsmouth players finally answering the question which has dogged their season

They do have fight and they do possess character.

The Blues earned a point from Saturday’s trip to Accrington through Marcus Harness’ fourth-minute leveller.

While the 2-2 draw was more than deserved, crucially the side demonstrated they have the heart so alarmingly missing in recent weeks.

The fears were they would once again capitulate when Matt Butcher put Stanley into a 2-1 lead with 17 minutes to go.

Thankfully we subsequently saw a different side to this Pompey team.

Romeo told The News: ‘When you are on the run of form we’ve had, everything gets questioned.

‘One could argue that people have a right to question anything – but on Saturday we answered what was being questioned of us.

‘We could easily have folded and gone down, especially when Accrington went 2-1 up. We showed fight, we showed character to come back.

‘When you go to places like that, you always have to be alert, you always be on your toes. It was tough when they scored their second so late, but we showed good character to come back.

‘If you look back at the game, we could be disappointed because we had a lot of chances.

‘But when you think of the form we’ve been in and the last few results, it’s something to build on.

‘We knew what to expect to an extent and matched them up quite well. We tried to stop them at what they’re good at and attempted to find a way to counter it.

‘It was a very tough game, everyone knows it’s a difficult place to come. Considering we could have won it, a draw is still good.

‘We have been questioned – and answered them on Saturday.’

During the final 12 minutes, substitutes Louis Thompson, Michael Jacobs and Ryan Tunnicliffe were all introduced into the action.

Jacobs played a crucial role in Harness’ leveller – and Romeo believes all these subs made an important impact.

He added: ‘Even the boys coming on showed how good a squad we are.

‘Maybe they haven’t been playing a lot of football this season, but they have stayed sharp and stayed fit, which is a credit to them.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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