Gaffer For A Day: His family were right in front of us and so proud. Portsmouth have a raw talent
Gaffer For a Day Ryan Lewis, aged 28 from Cosham, analyses Pompey;s 3-1 win at Lincoln
What did you make of the performance?
We started very slowly, Lincoln came out of the blocks very quickly for their first home game in the Championship in 65 years. We made a couple of mistimed clearances, let the ball bounce a couple of times, they had a few corners, but as soon as we went 1-0 up, that’s when we took control of the game.
A win was very important after last week’s disappointment against QPR. When we went 2-0 and they had the penalty, we could have easily panicked and let them back in, but we didn’t and Marlon Pack was a big part of that.
We were a lot better defensively, Benjy Arthur grew into the game massively. If we’d have lost or drawn on Saturday, we would have had to go to Bristol City next week - a ground where we’ve been thumped in the last two outings - and needed a result.
Three defeats in a row this season and the pressure would have already been on us. Not anymore, though.
Who was your man of the match?
Marlon Pack allowed us to play on the front foot and provided that shield in front of the defence, which is what we lacked against QPR.
He was getting on the ball, passing it, allowing Rocco Shein to go forward and find pockets. It highlights the fact we need a six and if we can get a younger Marlon Pack then excellent!
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I don’t think we will get 40-plus games out of him this season and we’ll need someone else that can do the job because I don’t think we have any other person in the squad who can do it.
Marlon is quite an unsung hero in many ways and still has a role to play this season, 100 per cent.
What are your thoughts on Ryan Kavuma-McQueen?
He had an excellent first-half, he was brilliant. It’s funny really, his family were sitting right in front of us in the away end!
When he scored, he went to them to celebrate and they were buzzing, obviously very proud of him. Although I didn’t try to talk to them!
Kavuma-McQueen is great, a 17-year-old scoring on his full debut. We saw at Fratton Park last week against QPR that he can get stuck in and isn’t afraid of tackling.
He brings energy, a highly skill level and has that raw talent. He’s ready for the Championship, that’s why we signed him, and he can make other players around him just as good.
And what a sad slight to see Josh Murphy limp off.
I’m concerned for him. He came on as a second-half substitute, ran down the line and you could see he was in pain. Then he went down.
The season before last he was our best player and, whenever he comes on, you see the quality he has, but it comes to a point where you ask, do we need to plan for the team without Josh Murphy?
If he’s out for another 2-3 months and considering his age (31), it could be time for him to think ‘My body is just not playing ball anymore’.
Nicolas Schmid - 6
Terry Devlin - 7
Benjy Arthur - 7
Conor Shaughnessy - 7
Zak Swanson - 5
Marlon Pack - 9 - Man of the Match
Rocco Shein - 7
Abu Kamara - 8
Adrian Segecic - 8
Ryan Kavuma-McQueen - 8
Colby Bishop - 6
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