Boss pleased with work-rate in comfortable Rochdale victory
Guy Whittingham called for an immediate response following Pompey’s humbling at York seven days earlier.
And that’s exactly what he got as the Blues romped to a 3-0 victory over in-form Rochdale.
Jed Wallace opened the scoring with his second impressive goal in as many games.
Bondz N’Gala then showcased his aerial threat by heading home twice in the space of just 14 minutes.
And Whittingham was delighted to see so much hunger in his players as they returned to winning ways.
The Blues boss said: “We haven’t performed badly this season, so we needed to make sure last week was just a one-off.
“We worked hard. We committed to going out there, working our socks off and keeping our concentration. We did the right things in the right areas.
“That’s the type of hard-working performance that a Pompey side needs to produce every week. It’s important that becomes the norm.
“It was a great strike from Jed. We were creating chances early and putting Rochdale under pressure.
“Jed’s always been a confident lad and he had the backing of a fantastic crowd.
“He’s maturing as a person and he likes working hard – he’s been the most consistent in that side of things.
“Bondz had some good deliveries. We worked on attacking those areas during the week and it paid off.”
Trevor Carson was handed his debut in goal after arriving on loan from Bury during the week.
And he repaid the faith shown in him by making a stunning double stop in injury time to secure a clean sheet.
Whittingham said: “Keepers have to keep their concentration and he did that. He’s put in a steady performance and then made two great saves at the death.”