What we learnt from Pompey's victory over Charlton

Pompey are on their way once again.

Well at least they are according to 3,800-plus fans at Charlton, who were singing of going up the Football League at the weekend.

The soundtracks to last season’s title success provided the backdrop to victory at The Valley.

The travelling faithful were in raucous and bullish mood, as their team impressed on the way to a warranted three points against Karl Robinson’s side.

It may be a little premature to be talking about promotion to the Championship just yet, but the songs speaking of going up from League One were revealing.

It was the first time since Kenny Jackett succeeded Paul Cook such chants were given an airing.

The win was also the first time Pompey had defeated a side currently above them in the table this term.

It was also their sixth win in seven in all competitions to make Jackett’s men one of the division’s form sides.

There’s still a distance to travel for Pompey to reach the same level as the top-six sides.

But supporters are liking what they see from their side - as they made evident on Saturday.

Zeros And Ones

Zeros and ones are the words Kenny Jackett continually returns to when speaking about his side’s defensive record.

It’s a reference to how many goals he will accept being shipped by Pompey each game.

If they keep up their steely showing at The Valley there will be plenty more of those to come over the second half of the season.

Victory over Charlton represented arguably the biggest win of the Blues’ season to date.

And it arrived thanks to a 10th clean sheet of the campaign - and the third shut out on the bounce.

It’s the resilience of Kenny Jackett’s side which is proving key to their impressive form.

They had to weather extended periods of Charlton pressure to pick up Saturday’s impressive win.

The first and last thirds of the game were all about the home side coming on to Pompey.

The Addicks created little in the way of clearcut chances, however, with their dominance of the ball.

Josh Magennis drifted a header narrowly wide just before the break, while Leon Best also failed to convert a late header.

That had everything to do with an outstanding save from Luke McGee, whose stop to his right was crucial to preserving victory.

Lowe’s Flying High

The sense of fear was palpable from the home fans.

And the concern of the Charlton players was evident, too, every time Jamal Lowe picked up the ball.

A player with pace to burn who can carry the ball at speed is the stuff of nightmares for defenders.

That was unequivocally witnessed through the winger’s performance at The Valley on Saturday.

The murmurs of discontent from Addicks fans was audible as the 23-year-old ran at full-back and Charlton skipper Chris Solly.

Jackett has stressed he feels League One teams are open to the counter-attack. With Lowe’s pace involved, Pompey are that much more threatening doing so.

One first-half break was all about the arrival from Hampton & Richmond powering his team forward, before Conor Chaplin’s clear chance was blocked.

Time and again he created openings, with a standout moment dispossessing Solly on touchline before nutmegging his opponent and beating another red shirt.

Lowe may be talking about his game improving defensively, but Pompey fans wants to see more of him at his devastating best - as he was against Charlton.