Portsmouth FC

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• Manager:Steve Cotterill

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Hart remains coy on future

19 May 2009 - 07:35:02

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Paul Hart is still refusing to contemplate staying on as Portsmouth manager despite leading the south coast club past the 40-point mark with a 3-1 win over Sunderland.

Strikes from John Utaka and Armand Traore, plus a Phil Bardsley own goal, moved Pompey up to 14th place in the Premier League table.

Hart and number two Brian Kidd were tasked with saving Pompey's top-flight status but, despite completing the task, the club's head of youth development is still not considering the prospect of taking the first-team reins on a permanent basis.

When asked if he could be persuaded to stay on, he said: "It's possible. We'll see what happens.

"We're concentrating on this (season) and we've got another game left. We really do want to finish as high as we possibly can.

"I'm contracted to this club anyway for the next two years so it's immaterial.

"It's a good job to have, it's a great club and I'm sure there'll be a lot of people fancying it.

"I've been employed to do this job. It was very specific - one day, one game. Then it became until the end of the season and myself and my staff have really focused on that."

Meanwhile, Hart credited an improved second-half performance for the victory over the Black Cats.

He added: "The first half was a bit like watching paint dry, but we injected a little bit of life in the second half.

"Obviously it's been a very hard season and there are a lot of tired legs, but they pushed themselves over the line."