‘We need to…’: skipper lays it on the line to Portsmouth ahead of crucial Oxford United showdown
Marlon Pack demanded Pompey show the appetite for a Championship fight and a Fratton response to the Stoke City capitulation.
And the Blues skipper made it clear to John Mousinho’s squad they have to find the basic fighting qualities which were so clear missing in the mid-week annihilation in the Potteries.
Oxford United arrive at PO4 tomorrow for a game Mousinho is billing as a ‘must-win’, after his side’s record winless start to a league season was marked with an embarrassing 6-1 thrashing.
The performance came off the back of two promising displays at Burnley and against Sheffield United, with Pompey failing to compete, work and organise in the manner required in the second tier.
Pack pointed out those qualities have been previously evident in an incredibly tough start to a season in terms of opposition.
Pompey are already four points from safety and have to guard against that gap opening any further at such an early stage of the campaign.
The opposition, on paper, appear to get easier than those faced so far in the weeks ahead, but the Stoke result was supposed to mark the start of that run - with the biggest defeat in 14 years the end result.
For Pack, that tells its own story about what Pompey fan have to bring to the table to turn their fortunes around.
He said: ‘Stoke wasn’t the final straw because there’s still 30-odd games to go, but it was a real wake-up call for this group.
‘I haven’t had many like that in my career. We capitulated and, as much as it pains me to say it, maybe it we were lucky it stayed 6-1.
‘It really pains me to say that, but we need to be better as a team - all the non-negotiables, the things you shouldn’t need to teach.
‘Throughout the season we’ve done that as a bare minimum, even if we’ve fallen short on quality at times.
‘You can’t say this group hasn’t been committed or battled. We know we’re a group who can’t afford not to do that as a minimum.
‘We can’t get away with not doing that, so we need to have a good look at ourselves. We need to stand up as a group.
‘We have to show it’s a one off. There has to be a turnaround to Oxford at Fratton Park to hopefully show elements of the performances we’ve shown this season.
‘The games ahead won’t be easier if we perform like that.
‘I’ve tried not to say it’s a tough start that eases off, I’ve tried not to speak like that. This is the Championship, it’s tough.’