‘Wake up call’: Forceful message from Portsmouth dressing room after dismal Sheffield Wednesday defeat
Pompey fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat against early strugglers Sheffield Wednesday.
Adrian Segecic is adamant Pompey have to use their dismal display against Sheffield Wednesday as a wake up call.
And the winger has had his say over the Owls controversial second goal, which saw Geroge Brown capitalise after Conor Shaughnessy went down injured.
The Blues were brought crashing back down to earth after the highs of Southampton last week after falling to a shock defeat to Hendrik Pedersen’s early strugglers.
John Mousinho’s men fell behind after just 12 minutes after an impressive Barry Bannan free-kick, before Brown doubled their advantage to put the game out of reach for the hosts.
Pompey did attempt to claw their way back into the contest but were well beaten, with a number of individual displays falling well below the standards.
And there were some strong words in the dressing room after the game, according to Segecic, who is adamant his side have to use the defeat as a wake up call.
View from Pompey dressing room after Sheffield Wednesday defeat
He told The News: ‘It wasn’t our day today.
‘The boys weren’t up for it and I think against these teams it just shows you that in the Championship, every game you need to be up for it. If you’re not, then things like this can happen.
‘We need to realise that every game in the Championship is a big game. No matter what side you come across, if you’re not up for it and you don’t show that from the first minute and get the crowd into it then things like today can happen.
‘They just got the best of us. We need to look at ourselves and know that we can’t start a game like that ever again.
‘We can’t think for doing well (against Southampton) that we are going to rock up to every game in the Championship and win based on the way we’ve been playing.
‘It’s a wake up call to us and for the boys that we need to start every game like we’ve started a few games, which we’ve been doing well.
‘To have this game, it’s not the best but I think it’s one to push aside and to look forward.
‘The gaffer has been saying these are the games that you need to make sure you’re up for and it’s a wake up call to the boys that we do need to be up for it every single game. If you’re not then this can happen.’
Controversial Sheffield Wednesday goal
One of the game’s key talking points came soon after the break, with Shaughnessy pulling up injured when attempting to clear a routine ball.
After pulling up with a hamstring issue, Brown stole the ball off the stranded defender before firing past Ben Killip in goal.
And while Segecic has sympathy for his fellow team-mate, he is adamant an attacker would give away an opportunity to score in order to pull the play back.
‘It is what it is. It’s up to them. As an attacker you’re never going to give away an opportunity to score.
‘It’s unfortunate and I hope Shocks (Conor Shaughnessy) is okay, that it’s not too bad and he can come back soon. It’s one of those games where we need to dust ourselves off and go again.’