Portsmouth's Oxford response, 3 in a row at Fratton Park and his affection for the local community – what else was discussed during Danny Cowley’s latest press conference

In his pre-match chat with Neil Allen on Thursday, Danny Cowley spoke about Callum Johnson’s future plus renewed hopes of a play-off push.

But that wasn’t all that was said in our chief sports writer’s chat with the Blues boss.

Here’s what else was talked about ahead of Pompey’s latest League One challenge.

Cowley on…. current form

We’re very pleased to win three games in a row in what is a very tough and very competitive division, it’s never easy to do that.

I’m really proud of the group after the injustice at Oxford.

When we went down to 10 men so early after a soft sending off and then fought so hard and put so much effort in to then lose in the dying moments as we did.

It would've been very easy for us to go under in that moment but we’ve shown some real character, fortitude, resilience, grit, determination and all these qualities we talk a lot about.

We’ve really fought back and managed to get on the right side of three tight games, which has been good.

It’s fantastic now that we have three games next week.

They're coming thick and fast but to have three home games is a really exciting prospect for us.

Cowley on…. Pompey’s position in the table

I don’t really see the table, I just focus on the process.

I do think it’s a pivotal week and we are on a run, and it’s really hard to get a run going in this division because it is so competitive.

When you do get a run going you want to maximise the moment.

We have a very tough game on Saturday against Fleetwood and they’re very fresh, they haven’t played for 20 days, they’ve had good preparation time going into our game.

We played Tuesday and need to find the energy and intensity – and without doubt need our supporters to contribute and play their part but we’re really excited about the game.

Every week in football is pivotal, that's how we see it.

It’s a 44-week season if you count pre-season, so we have 44 really important weeks.

At the beginning of each week, it’s always to make sure we are in the right mindset to be able to perform at our best.

We are in a really busy period now and we're going to attack each game and try to win each game and we’re going to enjoy the process.

Cowley on… Three Fratton Park games in a row

It’s brilliant to be at Fratton Park, we love Fratton Park, we love being with our supporters.

I think our away supporters have been incredible.

I felt so sorry for them at Crewe but I was so pleased for them that the club have been willing to pay some of their costs to come to the next game against Crewe.

I think for the supporters to come on Tuesday night and come with so much energy and enthusiasm, it was to be able to share that moment with them at the end and for us to all celebrate a victory against a well resolute Shrewsbury team.

Now they can come back to Fratton Park on Saturday with children for a pound – I love that because Portsmouth is such an incredible place.

The people have such an allegiance not just to the football club but with the city in general.

You can really feel it. When you ask people from the city, they say they’re really proud to be from Portsmouth and what I love about Portsmouth is that you never see Manchester United kits, Manchester City kits, Arsenal kits, Tottenham kits, Chelsea kits, I only ever seen the Pompey blue –and that for me is very unique.

You got to most cities now and you see clubs in League One and League Two that have supporters who support their local clubs and also support a Premier League club, but I have the feeling in Portsmouth that people of Portsmouth are through and through.

What we’ve got to make sure is that the young people of Portsmouth continue with that tradition.

How we do that is by getting out into the community, keep getting into the schools and building relationships and connections.

Whenever we can we’re getting the players out, myself and the staff and Andy Cullen, and we’re constantly out trying to build relationships with our supporters.

But most importantly we have to make sure we perform on the pitch and come Saturday we want a real high energy, attacking performance that is going to encourage any new supporters back to Pompey in the future.

Are the play-offs a realistic target for Pompey?

I think anything is possible for Portsmouth. I think anything is possible for us.

I always live in a world of positivity, I believe only we can control our destiny and as human beings we can be whatever we want to be, we can achieve anything we want to and nobody should put a ceiling on that.