Joe Gallen hailed Gareth Evans’ attacking instincts after Pompey beat Bradford to remain top of the League One table.
The skipper thundered Ronan Curtis’ cut-back into the net in the opening stages at Valley Parade – and it ultimately proved to be the winner.
It was certainly not an easy three-point haul against the side who sit bottom of the standings and had defender Adam Chicksen sent off towards the end.
But Gallen expected nothing less than a competitive encounter and was pleased to see the Blues come out on top.
Pompey’s assistant manager said: “I know Bradford are bottom of the league, but it certainly didn’t feel like that when we came into a big stadium.
“They’ve put together a squad that certainly wasn’t designed to be where they are in the table at this stage of the season.
"We all know that Gareth times his runs perfectly from the number 10 position. He’s got a centre-forward’s instinct."
“So we’re delighted to not only claim all three points, but also keep a clean sheet. It was a classic away performance.
“We started quite well and scored a very good goal to take the lead. It’s often hard after that because pressure will naturally come on you, but we held out.
“We’ve been working with Ronan on going both outside and inside his man because we know defenders are wary of him.
“And we all know that Gareth times his runs perfectly from the number 10 position. He’s got a centre-forward’s instinct.
“A lot of players would have perhaps leant back and blasted it high, but he gets over the ball and finished it well.
“Coming away from home and expecting the opposition not to have any chances is naïve, but we had some class on the ball and I felt we were the better team overall.”
Pompey have a long wait before they visit Scunthorpe for their next chance to pick up some points, with attention turning to the FA Cup.
Gallen said: “We haven’t got a league game for three weeks now, but I expect us to field a strong team at Maidenhead.
“I’m sure Kenny will put a group players out on the pitch that he thinks will give us the best possible chance of going through.”