Boss Barker is delighted as Pompey bounce right back
Tuesday, 25th Feb 2014 22:47 by pompey-fans.com staff

Richie Barker heaped praise on Pompey after they erased the memory of the 5-1 defeat at Scunthorpe with a deserved win over Accrington Stanley.

Jake Jervis's early second-half goal was all that separated the sides but most felt the Blues could have won by more.

The three points moves them up to 18th in the table and it was their third win in six games.

Barker told Radio Solent: 'I thought they were excellent from the start. We asked them to start well and get the crowd behind us and we did that. It fizzled out a bit before half-time. But in the second half we took the game to them and probably should have won by a couple more.

'I thought the front two worked extremely hard. They were fantastic in terms of putting their back four under pressure. I thought the whole team bounced back. I've said to them I'm extrmely proud of the way they reacted - and let's not go through that again.'

Barker again defended his decision to criticise his players to the media after Saturday's 5-1 defeat at Scunthorpe and said this win was the perfect response.

'I'm an honest person and if we aren't good enough, we'll say so,' he said. 'I couldn't fault any one of them today, including the ones who were left out. They stuck to it, there was no sulking, they backed the players.'