Why Crewe postponement could've been the best call for Portsmouth: ex-Burnley, Sheffield United and Reading man has his say

The former Blues winger felt it was important his former side avoided a game which descended into farce at Gresty Road.

Little was present as the game was called off an hour before kick-off, with the ex-Reading, Sheffield United and Burnley man part of BBC Radio Solent’s commentary team.

Both sides were keen for the match to place and were left frustrated at referee Martin Coy’s decision.

Little felt Pompey couldn’t afford a game on a sub-standard pitch, however.

He said: ‘I think for Crewe, bottom of the league, you’re not even bothered. You want to play the game.

‘I know they’re battling relegation but they are bottom of the league and will probably go down.

‘Portsmouth on the other hand have a lot of work to do, but still have designs on the play-offs.

‘After winning the past couple of games, they’re looking at Shrewsbury and Fleetwood coming up.

‘This is a spell where they can rattle off some wins.

‘Portsmouth didn’t want a game where the pitch made it a leveller.

‘If you kicked off and it turned into a farce and they didn’t get the three points, you could be saying at the end of the season that was the game which made the difference.

‘People could look at it and say “why did we play that game at Crewe?”.

‘Now they will hope to get there in proper conditions, be the better team and get the three points.

‘Me and Dave Artell go back a bit, and I can understand him saying “c’mon let’s play the game”.

‘Danny Cowley wants to play but I expect he’s a bit more cautious in the back of his mind. You can understand that.

‘It just so happens that it’s rained the whole time, teeming down, and 15 minutes after calling it off it’s stopped and it looks okay!’

Little had sympathy for Crewe, who lost out on the revenue created by the game taking place with 1,500 Pompey fan travelling north.

He added: ‘It’s harsh on the fans.

‘I’m sure anyone who plays Pompey will know the fans will travel: they want the money.

‘It’s probably one of their biggest away followings of the season - and will the same amount of people travel for a mid-week game?

‘And just imagine if they’d turned around and the managers had convinced the referee to change his mind?

‘Those fans would've have been travelling home and heard that news. It wouldn’t have been fair on them.

‘It’s disappointing, but hopefully they can come back on a proper pitch and get the three points.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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