The man who can make difference to Portsmouth's promotion bid

The Pompey boss pinpointed the attacking talent as the man who can make the difference for his side’s promotion bid over the second half of the season.

Jackett alleviated the concern which circulated when Jacobs went off injured in the second half of Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Plymouth.

Jacobs again showed the quality he possesses at Fratton Park, after an outstanding display in the win at Charlton last week.

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The Pompey boss sees the 29-year-old as the man who can bring the moments of class required to sustain a promotion bid.

And Jackett is hopeful that will be witnessed again soon with a hamstring injury not thought to be too significant.

He said: ‘The injury was slightly worrying because we don’t want to lose Michael.

‘He’s got out of this league and he’s got so much quality.

‘In terms of creating the moments and the chances, he has that.

‘We saw that again when he got into some really good positions for us

‘Still, I don’t think he’s going to be out for long.

‘It does seem to be a tweak rather than a pull, though, so that’s good news.

‘It’s a tight hamstring or he’s tweaked it slightly.

‘Hopefully it’s not too bad, it was more preventative from him.

‘He’s been a good player for us.’

Jackett admitted it looked like the game was up for his side, as they fell two goals behind on Saturday with eight minutes left.

Pompey’s dominance after a strong start from the visitors failed to deliver a tangible reward, which Jackett knows wasn’t good enough.

He added: ‘At 2-0 down on 82 minutes it looked tough for us.

‘But we showed spirit and a lot of quality.

‘In the end, it was a pretty good performance although we couldn’t find the final pass or ball.

‘We showed a lot of character to get a point.

‘So we take that positive, look for the final pass and finish and keep looking for it.

‘We scored two goals so I can’t say we didn’t have pressure, but it wasn’t until Ronan came on it looked like it was going to happen.

‘There’s mixed feelings at the result.

‘The players felt they were generally on top but they held us and it was a good defensive display from them.

‘When you create 16 corners you know you’ve been on top.

‘We were on top during the game but know we have to do more.’

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