Positives from Win vs Bolton

[Jack_Tinn]

Apart from the obvious about getting 3pts and beating the 2nd placed team in the league to create a 6pt lead at the top of the table.....

• Raggett played really well, he looked very comfortable on the ball passing it around and out from the back

• Whyte came on and played well. He looked lively and linked up play centrally as well as wide right and his pass to set up Yengi was brilliant. If Man City had scored that goal the pundits would be purring

• Kamara looks brilliant as a right winger. I have not been convinced about him as a no.10 and as a left winger he has been a bit hit and miss for me but vs Bolton in the right side attacking position he was fabulous

• Sparkes was under pressure from Bolton's attacks down the right hand side but he coped really well. His crossing and set piece delivery is a real asset for this team

• Norris was excellent throughout. He looks a very solid goalkeeper

• Yengi is raw but he has pace, power and looks a nuisance for defenders to play against. His movement for the second goal was really encouraging. I am starting to suspect the team may actually carry more of a threat to score goals with him in the no.9 role than with Colby Bishop in there. Very encouraging performance from him at a time when the club needed him to produce with Bishop injured

• It was a true team performance - all of the starting xi and the subs contributed to the win.

• Richard Hughes take a bow! Great example of what building a solid team is all about with squad depth

• Pompey have now played all of the main promotion candidates once - bar Oxford (and they have not won now in four games and are starting to fade). So far they have beaten Barnsley (a), Peterborough and Bolton and drawn with Stevenage (a) and Derby (a)

• The return away game at Bolton could be a tricky game but that game is not until the third last game of the season ....so hopefully at worst that game won't be about deciding promotion but it may be about who finishes as Champions.

• Pompey are on pace currently for 103pts for the season. They are therefore quite a bit ahead (3-4 games) of the required pace to achieve 91pts that should see automatic promotion.

• As usual games are coming up thick and fast now over the Christmas and New Year period but Pompey's run of games (on paper) are quite favourable - they have a great opportunity to string a series of wins together over this period and slingshot themselves into a great position come January and the opening of the transfer window

[Blue Walter]

I don't disagree with too much that Jack has posted. I think he has covered most of it really.

I have noticed that Pompey's pressing game had dropped off a bit recently but on Monday it was back to it's most effective best. I think the whole team played very much as a team and executed their game plan brilliantly. I was very impressed with Yengi as he was up against who many believe to be the best center half in League One. He handled the occasion very well and took his goal well which, as someone else pointed out, if it was City or Arsenal scored it would have been held up as a top class move. It was good to see Whyte come on and make a positive impression, none more so than the delicate pass to set up Yengi. Sparkes is an enigma to me where his defending is poor, which was an area that Bolton exploited, but his crossing makes him invaluable to the team going forward. I think that Lane being on that side helps sparkes out with his short comings in defence. Shaughnessy is the player that has pleasantly surprised me the most and has developed into a dependable performer with important goals in his locker. Corners must be a nightmare for our opponents having to face Sparkes crossing ability with Raggett & Shaughnessy lurking to get on the end of them. Rafferty is a class act at right back and demonstrated that perfectly on Monday night with a good old fashioned sliding tackle. Midfield played well, although I thought that Robertson had his worse game for some time. Kamara seems rejuvenated over on the right wing and I hope his injury is not too bad. All in all there were many positives to come out of Mondays game and the signs are there for confidence of a successful season.