Skipper calls for cutting edge

The Blues captain has demanded his team take the chances they are creating as they go to league leaders Doncaster tomorrow.

Pompey carved out a host of opportunities at Leyton Orient on Tuesday night but failed to hit the back of the net.

Jed Wallace and David Connolly had a couple of efforts apiece at Matchroom Stadium but failed to register a goal.

Ertl has been heartened by the fact Pompey are now creating clear chances when that was not the case for much of the season.

That gives the 30-year-old confidence going to the Keepmoat Stadium tomorrow.

But the skipper believes a greater cutting edge is going to be needed if they are to enjoy success.

Ertl said: ‘We need to be more clinical and take care with the last pass.

‘We created a lot of chances at Orient.

‘And we now have two dangerous strikers up front.

‘David Connolly shows clever runs and in Patrick Agyemang we have someone whose work ethic is really good. When he holds the ball up we can squeeze up.

‘So we believe we can score goals wherever we go now.’

Doncaster present a stern test tomorrow, with Brian Flynn’s side three points clear at the top of the table.

They have lost one game in seven going into the clash.

Pompey had not lost a single game in six before Tuesday’s defeat at Leyton Orient – a match they deserved a return from.

Ertl is in upbeat mood as the team travel north with the pressure off.

He said: ‘We go to Doncaster and they are in form – but so are we.

‘We are in form and it shouldn’t have been a loss on Tuesday.

‘We have to take all the good things from Tuesday into the next game.

‘The confidence is there now. It changed after Crewe.

‘We were by far the better side Tuesday and that shows how we have progressed over the last weeks.

‘Now it’s a good chance for us to get a result.

‘Why not? Doncaster are in form but we don’t have any pressure.

‘All of the pressure is on them. We can play with freedom.

‘The belief is there that we can win games.’

– JORDAN CROSS