Midfielder planning for next term
Pompey have finished the 2016/17 campaign in fine form.
A run of nine victories from the past 11 games means that the League Two title is still a possibility going into next Saturday’s final day clash with Cheltenham.
The latest of those wins saw Carl Baker score the only goal at Mansfield to deflate the hosts’ play-off bid.
And the midfielder is confident that the Blues can even take their momentum into next season.
He said: “The character in the squad is high and everyone’s bouncing. If this group of lads can stay together then hopefully we can hit the ground running next year.
“I’m sure the gaffer will look to bring in a few players to make us stronger, while we’ve got the best fans behind us.
“I was always confident we had a squad that could win promotion and wanted to be a part of that. It’s a great feeling and something I’m very proud of.
“It’s fantastic that the title is still alive going in the final day – we looked miles off it a few weeks back.
“We’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve done in the past few weeks and hope that Plymouth and Doncaster slip up.”
Baker insists it was correct that he was credited with the Field Mill winner, despite team-mate Conor Chaplin claiming that he had got the final touch.
He said: “One of their lads came out and admitted that it hit his knee on the way in, so I’m definitely claiming it.
“Conor was saying that it went in off his knee and we were having a bit of banter in the dressing room – I think he was trying to wind me up.
“It was a scrappy, horrible game to play in to be honest. They had a few big lads on the pitch and looked to make life difficult for us.
“But we’ve shown this season that we can stand up to that and win games without always being easy on the eye.”