What Russell Martin had to say about MK Dons' victory over Portsmouth

The League One strugglers secured only their second win under the former Norwich and Rangers defender following his appointment in November, thanks to goals from Rhys Healey, Conor McGrandless and Alex Gilbey.

Ronan Curtis scored his 11th goal of the season and eighth in 10 games in stoppage-time as the Blues dropped to ninth in the table.

The hosts, who had tasted only one win in the third tier since mid-September before the visit of Pompey, remain in League One’s bottom three – below Tranmere on goal difference.

However, the new MK Dons boss was delighted with what he witnessed from his troops – against a Blues side who had recorded victories against the division’s top two sides in their most recent outings.

Russell told miltonkeynes.co.uk: ‘We've played a really good Portsmouth side who will be at the top end of the table at the end of the season.

‘They're really well organised, with a good manager and good players. But we were outstanding and it's probably the most complete performance they (the players) have given.

‘We're in the bottom three, and the courage with the way we've played – fair play to them for playing like that.

‘The easy thing to do would be to smash it long and keep our fingers crossed.

‘But we're trying to build something that keeps us up and something we can sustain. We need short-term success, but I've got confidence in the lads.

‘They (Pompey) edged it in the first 30 minutes.

‘But although they were dominant, they didn't create much.

‘We had numbers behind the ball and we looked dangerous on the counter. We just needed to tidy our game up a bit.

‘It wasn't as clean, crisp or nice as it has been in the last five or six weeks, but it's the most complete. I asked for intensity and aggression and we got that.’