Pompey play waiting game
KENNY JACKETT has backed Pompey’s variety of goal threat to be a major weapon in their promotion bid.
The Blues’ boss feels his team have upped the number of different areas of the pitch they can score from as they chase a place in the Championship.
Pompey moved to the top of the League One table as they usurped previous leaders Hull City on Friday with a 2-0 success at the KCOM Stadium.
Those goals ensured Jackett’s men remained the division’s top scorers on 32 goals, although Doncaster Rovers subsequently drew level with Pompey’s tally by defeating Burton Albion 3-1 on Saturday.
Donny, incidentally, could move to top spot themselves with a win over Shrewsbury Town tonight.
It’s the depth of Pompey’s potency which is pleasing Jackett, however, with 13 players hitting the back of the net this season.
Of those, John Marquis has scored 11 goals in all competitions, with Marcus Harness and Ronan Curtis bagging eight apiece.
Then there’s holding midfielder Tom Naylor’s excellent six-goal return with centre-back Sean Raggett getting a decent three efforts along with Ellis Harrison and
Jordy Hiwula.
Jackett feels that’s a big step in the right direction from last season, when Marquis was the top scorer on 14 goals.
He said: ‘We’re pleased as well with the amount of goals we’ve scored so far this season.
‘We do feel we now have goals not just in the front line but through the team and, importantly, on our bench as well. We’re going to need those.
‘We’ve got a means of giving the boys at the back something to hold on to.’
Pompey have shown they’re getting it right at both ends of the pitch so far this term, with their latest clean sheet arriving at Hull.
That is their fifth shutout on the spin in all competitions, with four of those coming against promotion rivals in League One.
Only Sunderland have conceded fewer than the Blues’ 15 league goals, with the Black Cats letting in 14 goals in two fewer games.
Again it’s a record that Jackett feels his players can reflect well on. He said: ‘It’s an achievement. ‘Five clean sheets on the trot is very pleasing.
‘My goalkeeper (Craig MacGillivray) had a minimal amount to do at Hull as well and we’re defending well as a unit.’
– JORDAN CROSS