Cotterill: We need Lawrence energy

Portsmouth boss Steve Cotterill thinks he has found his very own 'Energiser Bunny' in Liam Lawrence following his side's 1-0 win at Millwall. The on-loan Stoke midfielder has had a huge impact in Pompey's upturn in fortunes this season and his penalty in Tuesday night's Championship clash at The New Den made it a fifth game unbeaten.Lawrence now has five goals to his name since he arrived on the south coast along with Dave Kitson in a deadline day switch from Stoke."He gives us energy, and quality down the right," said Cotterill."He's an energiser, and that has a habit of rubbing off on other people."He's been fantastic since he came, he gives a lot and when he gets his rewards you feel he deserves them."We got him, Kitson, and a few bob. So I was delighted with that."Lawrence's big moment arrived in the 78th minute of an otherwise uninspiring encounter.Chris Hackett tripped David Nugent in the area and Lawrence stepped up to send David Forde the wrong way.Pompey are now in the heady heights of mid-table following their horror start to the season and, with an exit from administration finally on the cards this week, things are looking up."It's a bit better," added Cotterill."We had a really tough start. Everyone said we had a good starting XI but our pre-season was an absolute joke."We found it hard, we didn't have enough running in us, but now we've found our legs."Millwall will count themselves unfortunate with the woodwork denying both Hackett and Alan Dunne in the second half.But boss Kenny Jackett knows his promoted side will have to improve or they will soon find themselves at the wrong end of the table."We can play a lot better," admitted Jackett."It was a tight game, but our passing wasn't constructive enough."In the second half as the home side, attacking our own end, we were very predictable."We usually create chances, but here we didn't."We've had some good days but we've had some poor days as well. The gap between sixth and the relegation places will not be much this season."

Source: Team_Talk