Portsmouth Football Club News

• Nickname:Pompey
• Founded:1898
• Manager:Michael Appleton

• Ground:Fratton Park
• Capacity:19,179

Harry hails determined Pompey

03 Oct 2008 - 08:55:00

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Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp thought that his side deserved to book their place in the group stage of the UEFA Cup despite being outplayed by Guimaraes in the first half of their second leg first round encounter in Portugal.

After beating their opponents 2-0 at Fratton Park two weeks ago, Pompey conceded two goals in the opening 32 minutes as the Portuguese side started the match extremely brightly.

However, Redknapp's side regrouped after half-time and eventually progressed thanks to Peter Crouch's brace in extra-time.

"It was a topsy-turvy game," admitted Redknapp. "They came out and were fantastic in the first half. Their movement and their passing were excellent.

"It was going to take a big effort and a change in the way we played to get back in the game.

"We weren't passing the ball and we weren't getting it wide. Our wing-backs had plenty of space but we kept playing it into tight areas - they could have slapped it wide without even looking.

"We drummed that into them at half-time and you could see the difference after the break. Once we got it out wide in the second half, we took the game over and there was only going to be one winner.

"We dominated the half and our wing-backs gave them big, big problems. Armand Traore murdered their right-back and they couldn't handle Glen Johnson.

"We got into great positions time and time again. We posed them problems and they couldn't handle what we threw at them.

"It was great to see Peter Crouch score - the big fella took his goals well. We wanted to get through and into the group stages - I didn't want to go out in the first round."