'You should see the clothes he wears!': The big Portsmouth character now being taken to supporters' hearts

With his dodgy dress sense and infectious smile, Madiodio Dia is regarded as one of the biggest characters in the Pompey dressing.

And Marlon Pack is delighted that the Fratton faithful are now also taking the 22-year-old to their hearts.

With six successive Blues starts, Dia is flourishing in regular first-team football, demonstrating the qualities which persuaded them to recruit him from the Swedish top flight in February.

Partnering Regan Poole in the ongoing injury absence of Benjy Arthur and Conor Shaughnessy, the duo have been outstanding during a run which has lifted Pompey into 11th spot.

And Pack couldn’t be happier for a player who took time to win over Blues followers.

‘You get that with young lads, it takes a while to evolve into that player’

He told The News: ‘It’s great to see such an infectious character. I think everyone has seen it anyway, but Jojo is only going to improve, he keeps doing the right things, keeps making the right decisions.

‘Probably what you are seeing now is that, with a bulk of games, his decision making becomes better. You do get that with young lads, it takes a while to evolve into that player.

‘He’s a bit of a character, you should see some of the clothes he wears for training. Maybe I’ll start doing a diary and daily pictures of what he’s wearing, it probably sums him up!

‘Even some of Jojo’s ability on the ball reflects his character, you don’t want him to come away from that and you can see the improvement with a run of games.

‘There’s still so much for Jojo to do, but the potential for him is really high, the ceiling is really high, and obviously he is a character, becoming a bit of a fan favourite alongside that.

‘That supporter backing can keep helping him, trying to grow his confidence and putting in more performances like we have seen recently.

‘Hopefully Jojo is growing in confidence, hopefully all the boys are. I want us to be confident and have a bit of that football arrogance, stamping our authority on games.’

Dia’s Millwall performance was epitomised by a brave double clearance with his head during one second-half attack.

John Mousinho’s men would go on to win 2-1 through substitute Thomas Waddingham’s 82nd minute goal, representing his first competitively in 21 months.

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Yet it was Pompey’s defensive players - plus Iyad Mohamed - who afterwards earned the majority of praise from the home faithful, having been asked to dig in for sizable spells of the match.

And the skipper was also impressed with his team-mates’ resilience as they made it one defeat in nine fixtures.

‘Throwing his body on the line’

Pack added: ‘We’ve seen some of Jojo’s qualities on the ball, but what you want from him as a defender was tops on Saturday, throwing his body on the line, alongside Regan. You would expect that from Regan, you also have to give him plaudits he deserves.

‘The back four were brilliant against Millwall, especially against a side which put the ball forward and ask questions of you.’

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