[themaclad]

Attendance: 20,226 (748 PNE fans).

Referee: Tony Harrington.

Up at 4 am bed at midnight, a long day just the one motorway closure diverted towards the M60/61 on the way home, still managed to get back to the ground before 11 reasonable.
Arrived three hours before kick off, as you do, wandered round in ever decreasing circles not really a lot to do although did find this unique place for a tree.


Osmajic and Devive both missing with injury, did look to leave us to be limited in attacking options, started well Jebbison looked a danger although his strike partner Smith did not have the best of games. After the initial pressure the home side were fairly dominant for the rest of the half, attacking down either flank, did well to get to just before half time level. Iversen denied Bishop with a brilliant save from six yards out, however the reprieve was short lived, from the resulting corner Dozell from 20 yards out shot, Iversen dived to his left, the ball went right following a deflection and into the net, deserved lead which they took to half time.



Portsmouth started were they left off, looking for a second, but we soon gained the upper hand, playing some decent football, Mads and Dobbin arriving as substitutes made us better, but for all our dominance the lack of attacking threat in the box was a problem, one chance late on by Dobbin's first time effort when over the bar, probably should have done better.
Murphy should have done better for them when lifting the ball over Iversen, the bar and the home end in the last minute.

They say you learna lot more from a defeat than a victory, need another forward and if we can ger a couple in before the window than job done, a better sason awaits, top of the league Boro next up.

Piglet pie(steak) £4.50 Top notch

HECK

Paul Heckingbottom felt his side controlled the game against Portsmouth and were unfortunate to come out on the losing side.

PNE were beaten for the first time this Championship season at Fratton Park as the hosts came out 1-0 winners, courtesy of Andre Dozzell’s deflected strike.

North End pushed and pushed for a leveller with plenty of crosses heading into the home box, but it just never quite dropped for Heckingbottom’s side.

The manager said: “I’m pleased. Proud of them. We came to a difficult place and I thought we were the better team. Especially the second half, I felt we got on top and really controlled the game.

“We pushed and gave everything but nothing fell for us in the box. I think their ‘keeper only made a couple of saves.

“They were making real good blocks and just the amount of crosses we got in and balls into their box was fantastic really, because that's why we spoke about Pol [Valentín] when we signed him and what we thought he could do in the final third. Same with Thierry [Small].

“But then it's the finishing touches and still having that aggression in the box. I felt Lewis [Dobbin] and Mads [Frøkjær] came on, gave us a bit more control again, and were very good and had moments again to get us up the pitch. But maybe their skillset is not the physicality in the box. They played their part as well.

“I can't be disappointed with that performance and can't be disappointed with the first four games.”

PNE made the long journey south without both Alfie Devine and Milutin Osmajić, however neither are long-term injury concerns and should be back after the international break.

There will be plenty of players who will be looking to use the upcoming two-week window without a match to their advantage and accelerate their own return to fitness.

Hecky said: “We still need more attacking options and I'm not just saying this because I want attacking players in the window in the last couple of days. I want everyone back fit. We need to be able to.

“We've obviously lost Alfie and Milly today who’ve been fantastic for us. We welcomed Lewis in and Mads [Frøkjær] back which is great, but we’ve lost two, so we need them all back and all involved.

“Then all of sudden, if I need to, I can make five attacking changes from the bench and end up with three or four centre forwards on the pitch and attacking midfielders. It limited us.

“I felt we still chased the game in the right way and our wing-backs stepped up and played really, really high and got a lot of balls in their box.”

MOOSE

John Mousinho is delighted to head into the international break with seven points already safely in the bank.

Andre Dozzell’s deflected strike was enough for them to beat Preston at a damp Fratton Park in the latest Championship contest.

It was certainly not a faultless display from the hosts, who struggled to keep hold of the ball for a spell in the second half.

But Mousinho was pleased with the solidity of his side, who restricted their opponents to scraps in the final third.

The Blues boss said: “I thought we were okay and we seemed pretty comfortable, even if most people inside the stadium weren’t feeling that way as the second half wore on.

“We looked so solid defensively and I can’t remember Nico having a save to make, although he was excellent coming for crosses.

“But we didn’t really kick on after getting the goal – and we deserved to go ahead in terms of chances created.

“We looked so solid defensively and I can’t remember Nico having a save to make, although he was excellent coming for crosses.”

John Mousinho

“Both sides were quite expansive and we just wanted the lads to show a bit more composure, but I don’t think we did that.

“When things got slightly more difficult after the break, we weren’t able to put the ball in the back of the net again.

“It’s been a solid start for us, though, and we’re in a better place than we were at this time last year – both in terms of results and performances.

“The lads will have a little bit of time off now and then we’ll have a really good training block before the derby.”

Dozzell’s opening goal of the season – and his first for the club at Fratton Park – capped an all-round impressive afternoon for the midfielder.

Mousinho said: “We’ve had him in the building for just over a year now and I think he’s grown and grown into his role here.

“He was excellent for the vast majority of last season and has come in for this campaign looking more physical.

“Our challenge for Doz now is that because he’s such a technically excellent player, can we see a bit more of that.”