Midfielder looks ahead to Grimsby clash
An FA Cup first round exit in November was not something to be celebrated.
But at least it gave Pompey more time to prepare for Saturday’s clash with Grimsby at Blundell Park.
While fans of many League Two sides were watching their team continue on the road to Wembley last weekend, the Fratton faithful had the chance to get started on their Christmas shopping
And for Gary Roberts, it provided an opportunity for fine-tuning after a disappointing result against Stevenage.
The midfielder said: “In this league you don’t normally get a week off at any time, so we were able to get some good training into us.
“There were also a couple of days of rest and now we’re ready to go again when we visit Grimsby.
“It was nice to go into training at the start of the week feeling fresh, although it was a bit boring last Saturday.
“But it was good to be able to go home and see the family, especially because we’ll be in all over Christmas.
“The Stevenage game feels a long time ago now and we had a mad five or so minutes in the second half that cost us.
“Some people were waiting for us to fail after the Luton game because it’s happened before and we just provided the fuel.
“There was then no game to immediately look forward to, so the defeat dragged a little longer. We let ourselves down and have to put that right.”
Roberts knows that Pompey will not find it easy facing a Grimsby side sitting just two points adrift of the play-off spots.
He said: “It’s a hard place to go and we know what we’re up against. They’ve got some really good players and we’ll have to be up for it.”