Boss happy that below-par Blues still beat Bury
It was certainly not a vintage Pompey performance against Bury.
The Blues made a flying start and took the lead when Bondz N’Gala headed home Ricky Holmes’ corner.
But there were not too many other goalscoring chances in a 1-0 win for the hosts, who were often guilty of giving away possession.
Guy Whittingham conceded that his side have played a lot better this season, but was delighted with the result.
The Blues boss said: “Sometimes you deserve a win and don’t get one, while sometimes you get one when you don’t.
“There have been times this season when we’ve played a lot better than that and not won, so we’ll take it.
“Set-pieces are a massive part of football – especially in the league we’re in. We’d worked on that during the week.
“We looked at the opposition and had worked a few things out, so it’s pleasing that the hard work has paid off.
“What frustrated me was that we couldn’t keep the ball, but you have to credit Bury for that.
“You always get a reaction when the manager changes and they didn’t stop hassling us. They reacted fantastically well for Ronnie Jepson and he’ll consider himself unlucky.
“They’ll be disappointed because they came to Fratton Park and they got on top of us.”
Phil Smith started against the Shakers and made a superb second half save to keep out Shaun Harrad’s diving header.
But Whittingham revealed that Trevor Carson – who was not allowed to feature against his parent club – will return for Tuesday’s match against Wycombe.
He said: “Phil made one really good save, but although there was a lot of pressure, he didn’t have too much to do after that.
“It was a steady performance, but everyone knows that Carson will be back in for the next game.”