Portsmouth allowed themselves to be outhustled by Fleetwood and midfielder Cameron McGeehan knows they didn’t do enough

Cameron McGeehan admitted Pompey came up short as they were outhustled by Fleetwood.
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The Blues saw their promotion bandwagon blown off course in the gale-force winds at Highbury Stadium.

Callum Connolly 12th-minute goal made the difference as Joey Barton’s side kept Kenny Jackett’s men at bay to leapfrog them in the League One table.

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It was the home side who undoubtedly adapted to the conditions better and made greater use of having the wind at their backs.

Pompey pushed after the restart but failed to create much of note in the second-half charge, aside from a Sean Raggett header which was cleared off the line.

That created a platform from which Fleetwood could attempt to break up the game and use their tricks of the trade to make for a disjointed affair.

McGeehan acknowledged that was the case and refused to criticise their approach and, although he felt referee Matt Donohue could have done more to dissuade them, Pompey ultimately had themselves to blame.

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He said: 'We needed to be better as a team on a day like that.

Cameron McGeehanCameron McGeehan
Cameron McGeehan

'It's fair enough. It's their way of playing and they want to win the game. I haven't got a problem with that.

'It's a game of football and maybe the referee didn't help at times by buying into it a bit too much,

'But that's football. That's what people will try to do. They will try to find a way to win.

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'It's the same every game. Teams will want to timewaste against teams like Pompey. It's nothing new.

'We just have to look for Tuesday, it's done and we have to crack on. We're not going to dwell on it.'

The quality of the clash at Highbury Stadium left plenty to be desired with not a great deal in the way of clearcut opportunities across the 90 minutes.

There’s little doubt the swirling winds of Storm Ellen had much to do with that, as passes went astray or were overhit and the ball spent a lot of time out of play.

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Once they were in front, that suited the home side who threatened to double their lead late on when sub Josh Morris volleyed wide.

McGeehan felt Pompey could have done more to change their game to suit the conditions they were facing.

He added: 'It wasn't really a game to suit anyone's capabilities.

'It was more of a fight with a lot of headers, a lot of swirling winds and balls out of play.

'It maybe wasn't a day for that (long-range passing) so you have to adapt.

'We needed to keep the ball on the floor more, but you don't really get many days with the wind that bad.'

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