Portsmouth caretaker boss delivers high praise to 'passionate' and 'committed' players after Peterborough defeat

Craig MacGillivray’s first-half mistake settled matters, punching the ball onto Rasmus Nicolaisen for an unfortunate own goal.

The Blues in their first match after Kenny Jackett’s departure, also struggled to carve out goal-scoring opportunities.

Nonetheless, they defended solidly, and raised their game in the second half.

While caretaker boss Gallen was delighted with the players’ spirit and attitude throughout.

He told The News: ‘In the second half, in particular, it was a good performance.

‘A good performance in terms of spirit, heart, commitment levels, and we put a really strong Peterborough side under a lot of pressure.

‘Unfortunately the ball hasn’t dropped for us on the night, we missed some chances.

‘That second half was a very strong performance in terms of heart, commitment and some passion shown.

‘The first half there were no shots for either side, we probably had the best chance with Ryan Williams, but we came here to try to get behind the ball and play on the break.

‘I’m pleased with the second-half performance, but bitterly disappointed with the goal and bitterly disappointed with the result.

‘They showed a lot of passion, a lot of commitment, good team spirit. We didn’t show enough quality on the ball for sure in the first half – but we certainly did in the second.

‘We showed enough quality on an unbelievably tough pitch to play on.

‘Marcus Harness came on, Jordy Hiwula came on, you could see the ball retention and there was enough football there to create chances.

‘Unfortunately, for some reason, it hasn’t dropped for us and we’ve ended up not scoring.’

Meanwhile, it was heartache for MacGillivray following his Wembley wonder show.

The Scot has been an impressive presence for the Blues this season, yet will be disappointed with how he dealt with Harrison Burrows’ corner for the only goal.

Gallen added: ‘I’m unbelievably disappointed on the goal conceded – and to lose it on that is hard to take.

‘I haven’t seen it again, but it is a corner we would normally deal with pretty easily.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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