Portsmouth 1 Bolton 0: What they said about much-needed win
Pompey boss Kenny Jackett: ‘I thought we were nervous in the first half after what was a 4-0 defeat at home on Tuesday night. We started slightly nervously but I’m pleased to say we came through that and put on a good performance in the second half. We deserved to win, it was a good clean sheet, created other chances and could have scored more than one.’
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Hide AdBolton boss Keith Hill: First half we played well but second half we made too many mistakes, defensively, not keeping the ball as well as I’d expect them to. In the first half we have to be more ruthless. The missing ingredient from the way we played was putting the ball in the back of the net. We had some good phases of play, good opportunities where players have got to show they can make up that extra five yards, make better decisions. I think we are looking better as a team but this is a results-driven business. I believe we let Portsmouth off the hook today. Second half I can’t argue they were the better side but over the course of 90 minutes I felt like we deserved something out of the game.'
Blues defender Sean Raggett: ‘That was a massive win. Maybe it wasn’t the best performance we’ve had, but,, the way results have gone recently, the most important thing was the win – and we got that. The first half was fairly even and the second half they didn’t have many chances, while towards the end we could have scored a few more. We want to get all the fans back on our side and hopefully can kick on from that. We’ll get better from that game, it wasn’t the best we can play, obviously, but the win is the most important. The fans can look forward to next week now.'
News chief sports writer Neil Allen: 'Pompey laboured to a second win of the League One season - but the performance was unconvincing. Having been booed off at half-time with the Bolton encounter goalless, the introduction of Marcus Harness finally injected life into their display. Brett Pitman, who had earlier missed a penalty, secured the 1-0 triumph with a 66th-minute header. A timely victory as Jackett seeks to win back the Fratton doubters.'