Jackett urges Portsmouth forwards to find form in League One play-offs

Posted Sunday, May 05, 2019 by PA

Portsmouth manager Kenny Jackett urged his strikers to rediscover their shooting boots in the play-offs after being held to a 1-1 final-day draw at home by Accrington.

Pompey will face Sunderland in the semi-finals after missing out to Charlton on third place by just one goal after Ben Close’s long-range strike cancelled out Sean McConville’s opener.

Jackett said: “We got 88 points and we cannot complain about that. That sets a very high standard.

“We have to be ready for the play-offs, whoever you play, and we will be. It is a cup competition now.

“Ben Close scored a great goal and hit the bar with another excellent strike but what we need is our front four getting strikes on goal and scoring.

“We haven’t quite delivered in that regard in recent weeks.

“Our goals for record is good. Up until today we were the second top-scorers in the league after Luton so we are confident we can create.

“It is up to our front three to show they can do the damage and in the last few weeks the lines have been blurred in that regard.”

Pompey’s automatic promotion hopes were ended by Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat to Peterborough and they found themselves behind again here.

McConville found the bottom left corner of Craig MacGillivray’s net with a right-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area.

Midfielder McConville had earlier been denied by the crossbar after his first-half looping header had beaten MacGillivray.

Academy graduate Close drew the hosts level in the 59th minute, opening up space with a driving run at the Accrington defence before firing home from 20 yards.

Close rattled the crossbar from distance late on as Pompey searched in vain for a late winner, which would have seen them leapfrog the Addicks.

Accrington manager John Coleman felt his side deserved a victory.

Coleman said: “We have to be pleased with the performance but I always want to win games.

“We dominated for large periods and created some good chances.

“We pride ourselves on our high standards and we met those standards today so it was disappointing that a performance that merited three points didn’t get them.

“I need a rest now because this season has been mentally demanding but I will be more prepared for this league next season.

“I have my eye on one or two players and there will be an overhaul in the squad but we have shown today we have got the nucleus of a squad who show a lot of heart, fight, passion and skill.”