‘There were some questions’: Portsmouth skipper’s no-nonsense verdict after classy Lincoln City triumph

Marlon Pack believes Pompey have answered any early-season questions after their brilliant win over Lincoln City.

And the skipper is adamant the Blues have learnt from their mistakes after successive defeats to West Ham and QPR.

John Mousinho’s troops opened their Championship account for the new campaign, with a 3-1 triumph over the Imps on Saturday.

Ryan Kavuma-McQueen and Adrian Segecic gave Pompey an early two-goal lead before Reeco Hackett converted a penalty to pull one back before the break.

Ebou Adams put the game out of sight in the second half, firing home a 25-yard effort to secure Mousinho’s troops’ first points of the campaign.

But after defeats to West Ham and QPR in the opening two matches, Pack believes the Blues’ display at Sincil Bank put any early-season concerns to bed.

He told The News: ‘There were some questions of the group being asked before this game. Maybe harshly but in some aspects rightly so.

We’re all guilty of it as players. That first game of the season, obviously we had the West Ham one, but QPR there’s an expectation within the group that you want to start the season really well.

‘We had good moments against QPR, we were in control but had a frantic and sloppy 15 minutes where we conceded three goals.

‘This, in terms of a challenge for us, was right up there because we knew we would have to defend and stand up and be counted.

‘We couldn’t just keep sinking and defending our box, we had to show moments of bravery and quality when needed - and I think we did that.

‘It sums us up in a nutshell. We defended the box excellently, Nico (Schmid) was brave and came for crosses and took the steam out of the game.

‘Really good goal from Ryan (Kavuma-McQueen), excellent free-kick from Segs (Adrian Segecic) and Ebou gave us that control of the game.’

Although Pompey took the lead in their opening two matches, the Blues capitulated in both to lose 3-1 against West Ham and QPR.

Despite going ahead once again against Lincoln, Mousinho’s troops were able to hold onto the advantage to secure their first win of the campaign.

And Pack has stressed about the importance of keeping the same momentum when ahead.

‘It’s really hard in football, there’s never the right formula but I’m always a firm believer of whatever gets you in front keeps you in front.

‘I’ve been guilty of it myself, when you’re trying to hold on to a lead and you’re sitting deep even though you’ve scored by being threatening, playing on the front foot and being aggressive.

‘Some games you are going to have to sit in and be patient but maybe when the momentums with us as a group, how can we go for the jugular?

‘That’s something that evolves continually but you’ve seen today with the quality we have with the individual goals, we should’ve gone on to score four of five.’

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