Gaffer: Irishman's suffering a dip, but Portsmouth must stick with Ronan Curtis against Doncaster
I’m going to stick with Ronan Curtis, I think he has a point to prove and is the sort of player that when he gets angry or upset will produce something.
Obviously he knows he isn’t playing very well at the moment – all it needs is a bit of a spark and he will be back to his best.
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Hide AdLook at how he was this time last year, now he’s having a bad run. You don’t become a bad player overnight, he’s a young lad who has been in pro football for a short time yet had a lot of success very quickly. He’s going to have a dip.
It was foolish what he did with that Tweet, I think he has now realised you are never going to win against the fans that way. The only way is by banging the goals in and putting in a performance.
Let him do his talking on the pitch, he is a good enough player to do that, and by Christmas we will have forgotten all about this, with him on form again.
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Hide AdHowever, I would drop Sean Raggett, although, to be honest, the defence could be names in a hat and picked out, I don’t think Jacket even knows what his best back four is.
Christian Burgess and Paul Downing have played together the most, so I would go back to them, you have to stick with a pair eventually.
The defence needs to be settled, you cannot keep chopping and changing, let’s try to get it to work.
I would also take out Brett Pitman, not because I don’t like him, but Gareth Evans brings more spark to that number 10 position and is the sort of player who can really lift the game.
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Hide AdThis is a huge match, we haven’t started the season well at all, and sometimes a scrappy win like Bolton can be the catalyst required.
Whereas last season we were putting in great performances and getting results, this term we are not doing that and luck is going against us, like Wycombe.
Weedo have the games in hand – if we can win.
Pompey: MacGillivray, Bolton, Burgess, Downing, Haunstrup, Naylor, Close, Harness, Evans, Curtis, Marquis.