Hart hopes to keep Distin

// 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();} Portsmouth boss Paul Hart is hoping Sylvain Distin stays at the club despite asking to leave Fratton Park. Distin sat out the club's 4-1 Carling Cup triumph over Hereford after sustaining a knock to his foot.Distin has been strongly linked with a move to Aston Villa, but Hart is hopeful he can retain his defensive linchpin even though he has expressed a desire to move on.Hart said: "We've had a conversation and he has expressed that desire (to leave)."He's a great player, a great fellow and a wonderful captain."Sylvain didn't play against Hereford because he was injured. He got a kick onhis foot."We desperately want him to stay."Despite Distin seeking an exit Portsmouth gave their fans something to cheer about with a comfortable win over HerefordStriker Frederic Piquionne spearheaded the Pompey attack and opened the scoring after 20 minutes.He set up John Utaka for the second three minutes later before Niko Kranjcarand Richard Hughes netted either side of half-time to secure Pompey's passage.Piquionne was replaced by Kanu midway through the second half to a standing ovation from the Fratton Park fans.PraiseWhile Hart admits Piquionne is still short of fitness, he was impressed by theLyon loanee's efforts against the Bulls."Frederic has done very well," said Hart"We thought we knew what pre-season he had done and that he had played four games before he came over here."But we're not exactly sure what a French pre-season is."I think he has a bit to come in terms of his match fitness and his fitnessfor the Premier League."It was a big step for him to come into this league."He is probably going to have to change his game slightly but he has donereally well."Hart added: "We went about it in an extremely professional manner and we scored goals."I've said all along that these games are important - the Carling Cup isextremely important."We'll continue to take it seriously and I think it was proved how serious weare taking it."NervousHereford boss John Trewick admits his League Two side were unable to get into their stride, and suspects nerves may have played their part in the outcome."We never got off the ground really with our passing and some of our players looked a bit nervous," admitted Trewick."Possibly some of them looked around the pitch at some of the names and faces and didn't quite have enough belief to get at them."It was disappointing - we lost our shape a little bit as well in the centre of the pitch."When you allow Kranjcar to have a free run at your centre-backs from a deepposition, you know you're going to get into trouble."We lost it in the first 20 minutes of the game I thought and once they were two or three up, it was damage limitation."

Source: SKY_Sports