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The victory over Millwall felt like a throwback to the way in which Pompey won so many games at Fratton Park last season.
It was a vintage performance typical of the John Mousinho dynasty at Pompey – comprising a committed press, players working hard for each other, some exceptional football on display and a handful of sensational goals.
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We had a strong shape, built from the back nicely with Nico Schmid’s return, and looked an immeasurably better outfit with Callum Lang in the squad. Blimey how we’ve missed him.
You would be forgiven for raising your eyebrows at a further five changes to the side when the team news landed, but yet again, after some albeit questionable calls in recent weeks, Mousinho got his set up spot on.
Pompey looked at it and hungry from the off, with 15 minutes on the clock it began to feel a case of when, not if, we would be opening the scoring.
That soon came through one of the best goals Fratton has seen in a while from ‘Super’ Zak Swanson. Another day to add to that man’s list of big performances in the moments that matter.
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Adrian Segecic will be disappointed his perhaps overcooked cross that delightfully landed in the back of the net won’t go down as his own, and I doubt we will see a better solo goal this season than the third of the afternoon from Jordan Williams.
Colby Bishop deserves a lot of credit for the decoy run, unlocking the space for the second stunner of the day from a right-back (playing as a left-back).
Defensively, Pompey still have a real issue with set-plays – conceding when we were very much in control of proceedings, which meant for a nervy period before the eventual third goal.
This was one of few dents on what was otherwise a near-spotless 90 minutes.
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We will travel to Sheffield United with a rediscovered confidence about us, full in the knowledge that one win does not solve every issue straight away. There is plenty still to work on, and a lot to be pleased with too.
As someone said to me on Saturday, don’t just keep doing the right things, do things right.
Find more from Tom at the Fournilwrittenalloverit YouTube channel
