Whittingham: Get used to gritty Blues

Guy Whittingham assessed Pompey's new pragmatic approach and insisted: This is the way we have to play.

The Blues went down to a 2-0 loss at promotion-chasing Bournemouth to suffer a ninth straight defeat and equal a club record for 19 winless games.

But Pompey adopted a new style of play that made themselves hard to break down.

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They set up to frustrate their opponents in a ploy that worked for long periods of the game.

Blues fans are used to seeing their sides play with attacking freedom.

But the caretaker boss believes he has few alternatives at present with the club in its current situation.

Whittingham said: ‘When you are coming up against the in-form side in the league, you will not play them off the park.

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‘We haven’t got a settled side so we can’t work on things like that.

‘But we can be set up to be disciplined and hard to break down.

‘I think we did that tremendously well, apart from a couple of occasions.

‘I was pleased with the first half bit.

‘Then we got a bit encouraged in the second half and lost our defensive shape, which cost us.’

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While most Pompey fans know the club is heading for relegation, Whittingham insists the team will remain competitive for the remainder of the season.

He said: ‘With everything that’s going on, it’s a huge achievement to be competitive.

‘We had tremendous support again.

‘We heard them all through the game and we will try to remain competitive for them.’

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