Set-piece delight for Pompey midfielder

Carl Baker’s second-half left-wing corner was powerfully headed home by Christian Burgess for a 1-0 Brisbane Road triumph on Saturday.

It represented only a second away win of the campaign – and ended a run of successive defeats for Paul Cook’s side.

Roberts, handed the responsibility of taking deliveries from right-hand corners, revealed the Blues had been working hard to improve their success ratio from dead balls.

And they reaped the dividends against Orient to move up to fourth in the League Two table.

He said: ‘Carl put some great balls in from set-pieces.

‘I didn’t even see the goal go in to be honest, I was underneath the ball, but the lads said it was a good header from Christian.

‘We don’t score many from corners but are now being more direct with them, so Carl takes them from the left and I take them from the right.

‘We work hard on set-plays and when the delivery has been good we just need to be more aggressive in the box – and the big man (Burgess) has put one in.

‘People win World Cups on set-plays, so you have got to work hard at them, and Leam Richardson puts us through our paces on Thursday and Friday.

‘It came up trumps on Saturday and we got a goal from it. It’s nice to see one of the lads pop up and put one in.

‘Overall it was a hard-working away performance and credit to the boys, we had control of the ball and I never felt Orient had sustained pressure on us.’

– NEIL ALLEN