Source: SKY_Sports
Martinez - Distractions no excuse
// A bit of a hack but it works// The article snippet is wrapped onto a second line, even when #article-sub is emptyif( $("div#article-sub").children().length == 0 ) {$("div#article-sub").remove();} Roberto Martinez refused to blame the headline-grabbing events in the lead up to Saturday's 4-0 loss at Portsmouth as the reason behind Wigan Athletic's poor performance.[LNB] The Lancashire club were well below their usual best at Fratton Park as an Aruna Dindane hat-trick fired bottom-of-the-table Pompey to a much-needed three-point haul.[LNB]Stories prior to the match had centred around alleged comments made by Martinez about Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.[LNB]Furthermore, on Thursday striker Marlon King was sacked by the club after he was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being found guilty of a nightclub attack on a young woman.[LNB]But, despite the off-field matters, Martinez stated that his players simply underperformed against Pompey.[LNB]When asked how much of an influence said events had on his charges, the Spaniard replied: "I would say none.[LNB]"You obviously don't want these sorts of events away from the pitch.[LNB]"We had too many probably this week, with one of the players getting sentenced, and all the paper talk.[LNB]Let down"But that is not an excuse. We had enough time to prepare for the game. We knew it was going to be a very tough game.[LNB]"It (the Ferguson incident) is a situation that I never wanted to be involved with. I am not that sort of person.[LNB]"Sometimes you can avoid those situations. But that is not an excuse or a reason for the way that we performed."[LNB]He continued: "To put it simply, we did not have any intensity, any clarity in our play on the ball.[LNB]"We knew that Portsmouth were going to start with tempo and throw everything at us. And we had to take the sting out of the game. We had to impose ourselves.[LNB]"We didn't do that. We were very poor in everything we did on the ball. When you do that it is quite difficult, especially away from home. Today on the ball we let ourselves down.[LNB]"We were never first in the second balls. And when we had possession we couldn't find the right pattern and our intensity in our play really let us down.[LNB]"Portsmouth scored at the right times and deserved to win."[LNB]
