It was a seventh defeat on the road for Owen Coyle whilst Avram Grant was delighting in his first win since taking over from Paul Hart as Portsmouth manager.
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Grant spoke about the character of his team, and in particular Arune Dindane who missed the first half joke of a penalty but recovered to claim the second Pompey goal. Grant said: "Dindane missed the penalty so you can say why didn't Boateng take it, but Boateng missed two weeks ago and the papers said why not Dindane. Maybe I will take the next penalty.
"But I always try to teach my players to have character. Dindane and the team showed a lot of that. You need a short memory in football. You can't come in crying at half time because you've missed a penalty.
"You need to see what you can do better and that's what Dindane did. He worked harder in the second half and deserved his goal.
"It's always a good feeling to win, especially at this team when we haven't won for so long. At half time I told them that the most important thing was the three points and that we needed to do something because we didn't perform well in the first half.
"But in the second half we were better. We scored two goals and we could have got two or three more. The fans were great. They gave us a lot of energy and we need to show them that we deserve their belief."
Grant believed the turning point was the introduction of Nwankwo Kanu just before the hour. "Football has changed a lot in the last ten years," he said. "It's become more aggressive, more athletic.
"You need intelligent players like Kanu who can change the game in one move. He's very good for the team."
Owen Coyle again saw his side come off away from home with no reward, the seventh time in eight games this season. "This defeat is a big disappointment for me after how well we played," he said.
"We created numerous chances and we really had to take one of those and, if we had, I've got no doubts we would have won the game. We have dominated the game, but lost, and we cannot keep playing well and getting results like this.
"We carved them open numerous times through good football, but at this level you have to be clinical. They certainly were today because I can't remember too many times they got in behind us. These are the margins and if you don't take your chances you are going to be punished."
Coyle was not happy with the goals we conceded and added: "It was a great finish from Hreidarsson, but it's a poor goal from our point of view. When you score that first goal it alleviates the pressure on the back line, but even at 1-0 we were still in the game.
"But the second goal is one you expect to lose on the playground. There's a mix up with the free kick, it's a great delivery but with no pressure on the ball and I expect Dindane to be picked up.
"At the end of the day it's another game away from home that we have lost and that adds fuel to the fire, and rightly so. We are in the best league in the world and we have made a rod for our own back. But the only way to solve it is through hard work and by keeping giving the level of performances we have, but finishing the chances." |
