Defender happy with Blackpool cameo
His time on the pitch totalled little more than 10 minutes.
But Jack Whatmough still enjoyed his late cameo appearance in a 2-0 victory against Blackpool earlier in the week.
The central defender started the season in Pompey’s back-line having completed his recovery from a serious knee injury.
Another, less serious, problem curtailed his run in the side, however, and the form of Christian Burgess and Matt Clarke has made it hard to return.
So Whatmough was delighted to step back onto the pitch and help the Blues secure a vital result in the battle for promotion.
He said: “It’s been a frustrating two years for me with injuries, but it’s something I just have to put to the back of my mind. Now I’m just looking forward.
“It’s hard to get into the team with Christian and Matt both performing so well, so I just have to keep working hard.
“When I came on the gaffer told me to be strong and aggressive because they were putting a lot of long balls into the box.
“He wanted me to win my headers and that’s what I was able to do, so it was great to come away with the clean sheet.
“It was nice to come on and get some more minutes, while also being able to do the job that was asked of me.
“There was added pressure marking Jamille Matt after his goals at Fratton Park in the play-offs last season stopped us getting promotion. That gave me an extra reason to want to do well.”
Pompey recorded a second successive win by beating Blackpool and will look to extend their run at Barnet this weekend.
Whatmough said: “That good feeling has been there all season because we’ve got a great set of characters in this team.
“There’s a lot of pressure to win promotion, but we all keep each other going and the boys are all feeling happy.
“We’re just taking things game by game and only focusing on the next one – which is Barnet on Saturday.
“Hopefully we can go there and collect all three points, while also being able to keep another clean sheet.”