Gallen tells why Curtis wasgiven central role

JOE GALLEN has lifted the lid on why Ronan Curtis was granted a Pompey striking role against Oxford United.

The Irishman was pushed up front at the Kassam Stadium alongside Ellis Harrison, with John Marquis dropping to the bench.

The new-look partnership posed plenty of problems with their energy and physicality as the Blues claimed a 1-0 success through Harvey White’s second-half goal last night.

According to assistant boss Gallen, it was manager Kenny Jackett’s decision to employ Curtis in a central role.

Gallen told The News: ‘Kenny picked the team and the players and the formation – and he wanted to go back to what he calls 4-4-2.

‘Really, with Michael

Jacobs out, sometimes that hasn’t worked out for us and putting Ronan up front has a freshness, a lot of physicality about it, while he has proven he’s a good goalscorer.

‘I thought Ronan and Ellis had a right go, made some good runs, were physical, held the ball up and caused a lot of problems.

‘They were a very good outlet for the team, they wanted to pass the ball to them quickly, to their feet and pass the ball behind them.

‘I thought Ronan did very well.’

The Blues’ management must now weigh up whether to retain Curtis in the role for Gillingham on Saturday.

Or possibly well beyond that as they seek to kick-start their faltering automatic promotion bid.

Gallen added: ‘If you ask Ronan, he wants to play there. We just have to work out whether he is capable of playing there on a consistent basis.

‘It’s quite difficult actually to just become a centre-forward, but he does have the right attributes and he does have the right personality – I wouldn’t put it past him.’

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