John Marquis: You could see Portsmouth were off the pace in Stevenage win
John Marquis admitted the rustiness was there to see as Pompey stuttered to a penalty shootout win over Stevenage.
The Blues bundled past the side who finished bottom of League Two via a penalty shootout, after it finished 3-3 in 90 minutes.
Pompey were all over the place at the back and Marquis acknowledged they were below par in the first half.
But the striker stated his side were confident Boro would tire.
He said: ‘Even though it’s a cup game it’s important to get the first win.
‘It took us 25 minutes to get going and you could see it was our first game for a bit of time.
‘They had a lot of energy and were probably looking forward to playing against Portsmouth, as most teams are when they play us.
‘We knew they would tire. They’ve not had a competitive game for six months but they were good. They moved the ball well and had high energy.
‘They tired in the second half but they gave us a good game, as they showed by taking us to penalties.’