Rangers starlet Ross McCrorie pinpoints reason for Portsmouth's downfall against Oxford United

The Rangers loanee has revealed the Blues squad felt they would ‘overrun’ Oxford in last Monday’s play-off return with the U’s complaining of fatigue.

But Karl Robinson’s side emerged triumphant on penalties to book a Wembley berth against Wycombe for a spot in the Championship.

McCrorie pointed to the lack of chances created across the two legs as a significant factor in Kenny Jackett’s side coming up short.

He said: ‘It was a few decisions and just that cutting edge.

‘We’d all been out for three months without playing. You can do friendlies, but they’re not the same so Friday-Monday with extra-time was a big ask for both teams.

‘Penalties was not a nice way to finish the season.

‘It is survival of the fittest but I felt both teams were evenly matched.’

McCrorie revealed how Pompey gained confidence after the first leg from the distress signals emerging from the Oxford set-up.

Jackett made changes to his side with the belief the Blues would last the pace better.

That saw Steve Seddon, James Bolton and Ryan Williams come into the starting XI at the Kassam Stadium in place of McCrorie, Lee Brown and Andy Cannon.

Pompey got on top but after Ellis Harrison’s goal on the stroke of half-time the game developed into a stalemate.

McCrorie added: ‘In the first game we had a lot of chances to go for them but in the second game it looked like both teams ran out of gas.

‘That’s part of the reason the gaffer made changes.

‘We thought we’d make changes and use the depth of the squad and over-run them.

‘We thought they’d be shattered to be fair going into the game on Monday.

‘They were saying they were shattered in the first game so we thought with the changes we’d overrun them.

‘So fair play to Oxford for sticking in there but then it was penalties and what happened was unfortunate for us.’

A message from the editor

Thank you for reading this story. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on our advertisers and thus our revenues.

The News is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Portsmouth news and information online.

Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city.