Striker Ellis Harrison vows to put in the graft Portsmouth fans love

The Blues’ new striker has promised to take the work-rate he’s shown in pre-season into the League One campaign.

Harrison’s hard-running has been a hallmark of his play through the formative stages of his time Fratton Park, after a summer arrival from Ipswich.

That has even earned comparisons with iconic former striker Benjani among some supporters, who fans whole-heartedly embraced for his committed showings.

Harrison made it clear putting in the hard yards is something he prides himself on.

He said: ‘The manager plays with one up top, so I’ve got to work the way the manager wants me to work.

‘I like to do it myself. I like to work hard anyway and that’s what the manager wants from me.

‘I give 100 per cent every week, so it should be easy to fit into what the manager wants.

‘I don’t lack confidence. I’m not a confidence player.

‘If I’m not scoring I still work hard.

‘I get more of my goals by creating luck and working hard.

‘If I press the keeper 15 times and one time he messes up, it’s a goal for us.

‘It doesn’t matter about goals, though. It’s about winning.’

After an injury-hit season in the Championship with Ipswich which saw him score just a single goal, Harrison is keen to get back to the kind of goalscoring form which saw him bag 14 strikes the last time he was in League One with Bristol Rovers.

But the 25-year-old insisted it’s about the team over his individual happiness - and there’s no ego to satisfy on his front.

He added: ‘That’s football. Nothing’s a stairway to heaven. There’s always ups and downs.

‘In football there’s probably more downs than ups, so you have to enjoy the ups.

‘Hopefully next season there’s a lot more ups than there were last season.

‘I scored 17 in the Conference and 14 in League One. Then one last season!

‘If I’d scored two in the Conference and got us promoted it wouldn’t have mattered.

‘It’s not about me. There’s bigger things than me. The club is a lot bigger than me.

‘It’s not just one player. It’s a lot bigger than me - I can assure you of that.

‘It’s about winning, no matter who plays.

‘At the end of the day if I didn’t play a minute on Saturday and we won 3-0 I’d have been just as happy.

‘Obviously I want to play but it’s the team, it’s the fans and it’s the manager. It’s not just us.’