RECAP as Pompey fight back to earn point against Port Vale

A welcome back to Fratton for Ellis Harrison today. The striker didn’t have the best of times all told at Fratton, but gave the Blues defence a torrid time last season for Fleetwood. Not at Vale with pal Matty Taylor up front. That’s a strike partnership to give any defence plenty to think about.

Heavens have just opened, will put a nice bit of zip on the playing surface.

Paddy Lane has outlined why he never let talk of Premier League interest go to his head.

And the highly promising Pompey attacker has vowed he will let the challenges he’s faced this season fuel his Fratton career.

The Blues pulled off a coup to land the winger in January from Fleetwood - months on from the Northern Ireland international being touted for a move to the top flight.

West Ham and Brighton were both trailing the 22-year-old, after a 2021-22 campaign where he scored five goals and produced seven assists in League One when stepping up from the non-league game. It was a hurtling rise for Lane, but the Halifax lad remains a footballer with his feet firmly on the ground.

He feels it was important not to get carried away in the tumultuous world of football.

Lane said: ‘It (West Ham and Brighton interest) was at the end of last season, off the back of a good season at Fleetwood. I was in non league before July (2021) and then was on trial with Fleetwood for a while. Then I got the contract at Fleetwood and it was 18 months there before coming here.

‘I had a good season and I guess there was always going to be rumours, but I tried not to look into too much. It’s always nice to hear these things, but, at the same time, football is a very fickle game. As quick as it comes, it can go. You take it in your stride, but I’m sure in years to come I’ll look back and think it was a rollercoaster.

‘Last season was brilliant, but it’s in the past and is quickly forgotten. People talk and that’s football, there’s always going to be that talk - I try not to look into it too much. It was a quick rise for me I’m nowhere near the top yet, but I’m just going to keep going on that rollercoaster, because that’s what it is.

‘I like to be seen as grounded, because there’s no point in running away with all the noise. The people you see on the way up you’ll see on the way down.’

Despite still being at a formative stage of his career Lane has experienced the lows as well as the highs, as he this term fell out of favour at Fleetwood under new boss Scott Brown. The former Celtic man clearly didn’t fancy the former Blackburn youngster as a player, leading to him falling out of favour at the Highbury Stadium.

That led to Pompey pouncing and Blues head coach John Mousinho showing Lane the kind of appreciation he hadn’t received in recent months. That makes the skilful talent determined to repay his boss with the kind of numbers he was producing last term.

Lane added: ‘It’s all a learning curve (being out of favour), and I’ll take that experience at Fleetwood and help it to put me where I go next.

‘I want to be here as long as possible, but that experience will put me in good stead going forward. This season didn’t start how I would have liked it to, but now I’ve found my feet under the gaffer here and the players have been brilliant. I can’t remember the figures last season, but that is what I want to get back to moving forward I believe in myself and I want to push beyond those numbers.’

Pompey return to Fratton Park with Port Vale the opposition today.

And the Blues know the prize for victory will be closing the gap to the play-offs to four points.

We’ll be building up to kick-off with all the talking points, before team news drops at 2pm.

Then it’s live commentary from 3pm as the action unfolds at PO4.