Hart refuses to blame defeat on luck

13 September 2009 10:01
The south coast club are enduring the worst start to the season in their history after a goal from Gary Cahill after 89 minutes, which could have been ruled out for offside, sealed a 3-2 victory for Bolton. Tamir Cohen put the visitors ahead after 13 minutes, only for Younes Kaboul to head Portsmouth level. Trotters' second was also shrouded in controversy as Tal Ben-Haim appeared to take the ball, when he was adjudged to have fouled Kevin Davies for Matthew Taylor's penalty. Kevin-Prince Boateng equalised for Pompey, only for Cahill to devastate them with his late winner. But Hart is determined to fight on without reflecting on his struggling side's misfortune. He said: "On the replay, it looks like he (Ben-Haim) got the ball for their penalty - definitely. "Sometimes it can appear that the luck isn't going your way and you can bemoan it as much as you like. But that doesn't change anything and you have to try and put things right. "There was enough in that performance to suggest we can turn it around. "The only other decision I might question is whether Matty Taylor was stood in an offside position when he was involved in the third goal. "It looked to me like he was interfering with play." The home side were roundly booed by a disenchanted Fratton Park faithful at the final whistle. Hart understands their frustrations, but admits building a competitive side in such a short space of time was always going to be tough following the club's protracted takeover saga. He added: "I'm not trying to make excuses but we have only built our side in the last two weeks. "Everybody else has had the whole summer to sort it out. "We realise that but all we can do is concentrate on the positives that were in that performance. "This has been a very hard and frustrating six months. It's not only us who have suffered the frustrations; it's the supporters as well. "We've brought in some good players only a week ago and have tried to assemble them. "I will defend those players I've brought in because I think they are good players. They have all got something to prove." Bolton boss Gary Megson admitted his side's display was their worst of the season. But he was delighted to see his side pick up their first Premier League points in what many had dubbed an early relegation battle. Megson said: "Only time will tell whether this game was a relegation battle. "It was simply a matter of just getting something from the game for both teams. It was important that we got something and a bonus that we did score when we did. "It was imperative because I'd argue that was the worst we have played this season. At times we looked overly anxious and at times we looked hesitant to do the positive thing. "But we have scored three goals away from home, which we are pleased with." Megson felt the home side dominated the ball but was pleased with the chances the Trotters created. He added: "Portsmouth had the lion's share of possession and played the better football. "But the chances we had over the course of the game were better than the ones Portsmouth had. "We didn't have a great deal in the second half, but certainly a lot more than they had."

Source: Team_Talk