Portsmouth Football Club News

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

• Ground:Fratton Park
• Capacity:19,179

Hart defends Pompey tactics

15 Mar 2009 - 11:02:26

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Portsmouth boss Paul Hart defended his decision to try and hold on to a one-goal lead after his side let in a late equaliser in their 1-1 draw at relegation rivals Middlesbrough.

A Peter Crouch goal looked like being decisive at the Riverside, but Marlon King netted right at the death despite the home side having been reduced to ten men by the sending-off of Matthew Bates.

Hart said: "Sometimes in desperation to get a result you just try to hang on. We have shown our desire and our determination to stay in this division.

"I could quite easily have pushed somebody on, I could have opened up the game, so on that score I don't think you can blame the players, but we decided to shore up and try to get a result.

"If you look at most of the game we had coped with everything and some of our performances were tremendous.

"It is very, very disappointing, because going into the last minute in front you think you've cracked it. But if you had asked me before if I would have settled for a point I would have said yes.

"We are not shipping goals like we were and goal difference could turn out to be important in the final reckoning."