Sky Sports pundits delivers impressive Portsmouth verdict as survival battle takes twist after Middlesbrough heroics
The Championship survival fight took a fresh twist as Pompey earned a huge three points over promotion-hopefuls Middlesbrough on Monday.
Fratton Park title winner Tim Sherwood has lauded his former side’s brilliant display during their hard-fought 1-0 triumph over Middlesbrough.
And fellow Sky Sports pundit Clinton Morrison has called Saturday’s upcoming relegation showdown with Leicester City a ‘must win’ as the battle to beat the drop continues.
Adrian Segecic’s volley took a key deflection off Conor Chaplin in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time to claim all three points against Kim Hellberg’s promotion-chasing outfit.
And Sherwood, who amassed 33 appearances for the Blues between 2003 and 2004, admired the Blues’ game plan to keep Boro at arms length with the win keeping them clear of the bottom three.
Sky Sports pundit’s Pompey praise
‘Really damaging (for Middlesbrough’s top two chances),’ the Division One title winner said while speaking on Sky Sports.
‘They deserved to win the game, they had 20 shots to Pompey’s three and eight on target to Pompey’s one - and that one came in the last minute of the game.
‘Conor Chaplin, an academy boy on loan from Ipswich, has done everyone a big favour.
‘It was such a fluke, Segecic hits the volley and Conor tries to get out of the way of it, it just hits him and wrong foots the goalkeeper.
‘I admire the way they went about it today. They set their stool out not to lose the football match and defended their lives.
‘The likes of Regan Poole, Conor Shaughnessy who came on for Madiodio Dia as well, Devlin, Williams and the midfield players like Pack and Dozzell ran their socks off.
‘They didn’t deserve the win because Middlesbrough were dominant but you just never know.
‘If you’re organised and you stay in the game, you might just get a chance and you might take maximum points. That’s exactly what Portsmouth did.’
Leicester City showdown a ‘must win’
Championship football keeps coming thick and fast for John Mousinho’s men, who take on Ipswich Town on Tuesday before facing relegation rivals Leicester City on Saturday.
The Foxes sit four points behind the Blues at present after suffering a disappointing 1-0 defeat to mid-table Swansea City at the King Power Stadium over the weekend.
Indeed, Sherwood’s fellow Sky Sports pundit Morrison insisted the Fratton Park fixture is a ‘must win’ for Leicester, while Pompey have the opportunity to further distance themselves to the bottom three.
He added: It’s massive, they (Leicester City) have to win that. If they don’t, in my opinion, they go (down).
‘That’s massive, it’s a must win, they have to get (three points) Leicester City because if they don’t, they’ll be in League One next season.’