Record breaking Ronan Curtis reveals pride after smashing 17 year-long Portsmouth accolade held by ex-Everton and Blackburn striker Yakubu

The Republic of Ireland international surpassed Yakubu’s record of 43 goals in royal blue by bagging a brace in tonight’s dramatic 3-2 victory against Exeter at St James Park.

And the 25-year-old explained how it is a great ‘honour’ to reach the milestone for the club.

With Danny Cowley’s side staring defeat in the eyes in Devon, Curtis fired two quick-fire, late goals to turn the game on its head.

The first, a headed effort on the stroke of full-time, while his second came with seconds remaining in injury-time, when slamming home.

And he told The News: ‘It’s a huge honour, not just for me but for my family, my teammates and my coaching staff as well, so I’m really pleased and it’s one to remember and one to tell my daughter when she gets older.

‘There’s obviously some great, great players in the list. You look at the names and you see yourself when you see it. For a winger to beat Yakubu and Crouch and all the rest of them, it’s an honour.’

‘The message on my shirt was just “Yakubu” and I’ve obviously taken over him now and there was no harm in it. It was just a little bit of banter. It had “Yakubu and my name Curtis (underneath)”.’

After equaling the former Nigeria internationals record in October, Curtis faced a two-month barren spell in front of goal.

But he explained how he was always focused on helping his teammates, not breaking records.

He continued: ‘You could say there was a little bit (of pressure), but I never go into games thinking “I need to do this” or “I need to score or set up a goal to keep my place in the team”.

‘I go in first and foremost to work hard for my other teammates and as long as I work hard and do the best I can do then things will pan out for me.

‘It hasn’t really happened to me for the past couple of weeks and I’m glad to have confidence now with another two tonight and hopefully take it into Cambridge.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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