Portsmouth 1-0 Ipswich: who said what at the final whistle as Blues record important win

It wasn’t enough to see the Blues move above the 10th-placed they’ve appeared permanently stationed on in recent weeks.

But it did see them close the gap on the play-off places to two points with a game in hand.

Here’s what those closes to the action had to say about the game at the final whistle...

Kenny Jackett

We played very well, I thought it was an excellent game between two good teams.

Probably Ipswich’s strongest spell was after we scored, funnily enough, but it’s good to see us come through it, weather the storm and finish strongly.

I did feel in terms of the display it was a good one, we brought our crowd into play and they had a sizeable contingent from Ipswich which we kept pretty quiet, which does show the level of performance.

Ipswich changed it around a few times, which they do, but through the triangle of James Bolton, Ben Close and Andy Cannon it gave us a foothold and our defenders will gain confidence from a clean sheet, we haven’t had enough.

Last week we were too open, we went up to Accrington and tried to play an open game and blow them away, yet didn't work that way. It was 1-1 at half-time and we went for it second half and they capitalised.

We needed to adjust today because otherwise you can lose confidence pretty quickly in terms of a run if you cannot get solid and compact.

We did that – and it produced a match-winning performance.

Paul Lambert

We’ve lost two on the bounce in the league, one in the cup, it’s not something that you want to let prolong.

We know we have to get back on the rails.

We lost two in a row the last time and bounced back, we have to bounce back on Thursday and we have to be more back to what we were in the 15 games before.

Ellis Harrison

We needed to bounce back and we bounced back well.

We showed that last week was a blip and showed a togetherness.

There was heart everywhere. You seen on 70 minutes when Naylor – our captain, our leader – went straight through their guy and the ball.

It gave us a boost and our fans buzz off it. It gives you that extra fight that we needed at that time.

When he put in that challenge it gave me a boost. I thought ‘if he’s doing that then we have all got to go’.

Neil Allen – News chief sports writer

Pompey bounced back from the Accrington debacle with a wonderful victory over Ipswich.

Kenny Jackett's produced a dominant display throughout and thoroughly deserved their 1-0 victory.

The performance was as good as any this season, with previously second-placed Ipswich made to look significantly inferior.

Ronan Curtis' goal was the difference - and the Tractor Boys got off lightly if anything

Will Rooney – Pompey writer

This was a performance full of blood and guts from Pompey.

Ellis Harrison set the precedent from kick-off that the Blues were fired up to bounce back from their miserable loss at Accrington.

And didn't they just do that against a promotion rival in Ipswich.

It might have only been a 1-0 success, but Kenny Jackett's side completely warranted their three points.

Now the same is required when leaders Wycombe visit Fratton Park on Boxing Day.