Why Portsmouth exceeded Joe Gallen's expectations with devastating AFC Wimbledon dismantling

And he admitted he harboured concerns coping with a ‘mentally hard’ fixture in comparison to recent high-profile matches.

The Blues have impressively seen off promotion rivals Ipswich, Peterborough, Hull and Fleetwood since the start of December.

Tuesday night represented a different challenge, with relegation-threatened Wimbledon venturing to Fratton Park.

For Gallen, top-of-the-table clashes can be easier for players to raise their game – rather than encounters with strugglers.

Yet he needn’t have worried as Pompey hauled themselves within one point of League One’s top spot with a 4-0 romp.

He said: ‘Nothing is easy. But the bigger games are, in some ways, mentally a little easier.

‘It’s a case of we are playing Hull, they are second, we are third. We all know where that one is.

‘In this sort of game (Wimbledon) we are a team which haven’t lost in five league games and you think that run can keep on going.

‘But Wimbledon have nothing to lose and we have something to lose, and mentally it can be hard.

‘The run they are on, the run we are no, nothing to lose, maybe we have something to lose.

‘So to win the game 4-0, the players have done absolutely fantastic. It was a hell of a performance from them.

‘That will give them a lot of confidence going forwards and we are going to need that because tough games are coming.’

Defeat represented Wimbledon’s fifth straight league loss, while they haven’t won in the division since the start of December.

Nonetheless, Gallen wasn’t expecting Pompey to overcome them in the manner in which they did.

He added: ‘I was confident we would win, but prior to the game a 1-0 or 2-1.

‘I think Wimbledon have some very good players and they adjusted their formation to include three centre-halves and two wing-backs who are both defenders as a five.

‘With Alex Woodyard, who is an experienced player, in midfield as well, it’s very tough to break them down.

‘I thought it was going to be a tough night to break them down, that it would go into the second half before we could do that.

‘The quality of the first two goals were as good as we’ve produced this season in some ways, along with the incisiveness of the passing and move, and finishing.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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