Portsmouth boss Kenny Jackett encouraged by Ronan Curtis' response following Bolton difficulties

The Blues winger came in for some flack during last weekend’s 1-0 win against Bolton, with a section of the Fratton faithful cheering the manager’s decision to replace him with Gareth Evans in the second half.

That led to the Republic of Ireland international taking a swipe at those Pompey fans on Twitter, before taking the emotionally-charged tweet down.

After the game, Curtis tweeted the Blues ‘could have done with the 12th man’ as they struggled to overcome the Trotters for only their second League One win of the season.

With two goals in 11 Blues appearances this term, Curtis has failed to meet the standards he set last season following his move from Derry City.

However, his current form and run-in with the fans hasn’t quelled his passion to succeed at Fratton Park.

And while Jackett may decide to take him out of the starting line-up for the forthcoming visit to the Keepmoat Stadium, the boss has been pleased with Curtis’ attitude in training this week.

‘He’s been good’, said Jackett, after being asked today how the 23-year-old had been following Saturday’s events.

‘Always Ronan – trains hard, gives 100 per cent and works very, very hard in every single game and every single session that he puts in.

‘He’s definitely (in contention to start against Doncaster) – we need every single player.

‘For Ronan, obviously, I took him off during that particular game (Bolton) and put Gareth Evans there.

‘But, similarly, we have Harness back, Ryam Williams, Gareth Evans, oobviously, and then Ronan.

‘So we do feel there’s competition for those particular areas.

‘But as you saw last week, Gareth came on and brought a different set of strengths to the left-hand side.’