Why Portsmouth's Marcus Harness was not surprised by hammering of League One leaders Sunderland

The Blues shrugged off testing conditions to this afternoon hammer the League One leaders 4-0 at Fratton Park.

Harness opened the scoring, with Lee Brown and John Marquis (two) also netted in the routing of Lee Johnson’s side.

It represented Pompey’s first win in nine fixtures in all competitions.

But Harness believes Danny Cowley’s men had been threatening to inflict such a scoreline for a long time.

He told The News: ‘It was pleasing to be able to get a result like that.

‘We’ve had some really good performances where maybe there could have been four or five, but we haven't been able to score as many as we’d have liked.

‘To score four times against a team that’s top of the league is a really good result and we can take a lot of confidence from it.

‘There have been a couple of games, Charlton being one of them, where we have created a lot of chances and not been as clinical.

‘To turn up today and play like that in difficult conditions is positive and hopefully do more of that this season.

‘It’s just one game, there are a lot more matches and a lot more ups and downs to come, so hopefully we can build it and get on a run now.

‘Obviously it’s our first win in a long time, so hopefully we can just use that as a platform to build and get some more good results.’

The result lifts Pompey into 11th as they head into a blank week courtesy international call-ups.

As for Sunderland, they have dropped to second behind Wigan, who won 2-0 at Gillingham.

Harness added: ‘Sunderland are a good team – and we are a good team – so we’ll back ourselves against anyone.

‘Thankfully we have turned up and beaten them quite convincingly, it just goes to show how well we can do in this league.

‘Every game is a battle and we are going to have to keep fighting.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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