Goalscorer on the secret of Pompey’s success
It was a performance that showcased Pompey’s attacking swagger.
A 4-0 victory at Colchester helped strengthen the Blues’ position in the automatic promotion places.
But the man who netted their third believes it was doing the simple things correctly that gave them a platform to build on.
And Danny Rose knows that Pompey have the quality to hurt teams if they keep things tight at the back.
He said: “Everybody’s over the moon with that performance and we were able to get the basics right.
“We know if we start with a solid base and don’t give the opponents too many chances then our flair players will shine through.
“That’s exactly what happened and you can count on one hand how many times David Forde had to deal with anything.
“Our attacking players certainly turned up and we were rewarded for all the hard work that was put in.
“We were really ruthless with the second goal and that provided the catalyst for us to go on and dominate the rest of the game.
“You could sense from that point that Colchester had gone and we were able to relax a bit, while still trying to make sure we kept the clean sheet.”
Rose notched his fourth goal of the season to add to earlier efforts from Eoin Doyle and Kyle Bennett before Michael Doyle wrapped things up.
The midfielder said: “I tried to hit it with the outside of my boot into the top corner, but it didn’t quite come off.
“Thankfully it came back to me and the keeper dived at my feet, so I instinctively just tried to lift it over him.
“The way we play means that the central midfielders have to be quite disciplined, but the opportunity was there to get higher up the pitch and I took it.”
On-loan striker Eoin Doyle had gone five games without finding the net before opening the scoring in Essex.
Rose said: “We’re all pleased that he got another goal because he’s had a bit of a tough time of late.
“But he gets in the right positions and his movement is second to none. He definitely got what he deserved.
“His record speaks for itself and we have plenty of faith in him, so he’ll have a vital role to play between now and the end of the season.”