More disappointment today. Another away match that ended up a fairly even affair, but unfortunately ended up in the opposition’s favour.
No excuses for our start to the match – I thought we were dreadful for the first 30 minutes. No fluency whatsoever, and no real idea about how we were going to break down the opposition. I could see that we were trying to tighten things up, and it wasn’t far off working, but I at least expect us to look tidy in possession. Which unfortunately wasn’t the case for much of the match.
The mitigating factor is Brum’s form, which is pretty spectacular. Unbeaten in 7 matches now. They look like a Premiership side no question. They’re on the sort of winning run that we could really do with. Soon.
On the bright side we had 14 shots on goal, and I can’t help feeling that we were a little unlucky. Diamanti had 3 or 4 shots whistle past the post, Dyer made a great run to hit the post, and Franco should really have finished his one-on-one. That said, we need to be doing more than nicking draws.
The thing I’m really concerned is the pressure that these away defeats are going to put on the key home matches. If we lose against Bolton and then Chelsea as well, it really makes Pompey on Boxing Day such a cup final fixture for us that we have to win. We just need a few unexpected points to take the pressure off a little bit.
It’s a period where the club, manager, players and fans have to keep our nerve.
