Andy Awford has backed Nigel Atangana to carry on showing he is at home in the Football League after the Frenchman's maiden goal for the Blues in the draw at Cheltenham.

The Pompey boss told The News: 'It was a great finish and I thought he got through an awful lot of work. He did the horrible side of the game as well as he has done it and that is a learning curve for him in my opinion.

‘He has ability, everybody can see that, that is why we took him in. As you go up the levels you are playing against better players. He needed to be shown and worked on to do the defensive side of the game that maybe he hasn’t had to do so much in the past.

‘He was a bit unsure of some of the roles he was expected to do. But we played him a little bit loose and he was allowed to go and join in with Ryan Taylor, Lee Holmes and Jed Wallace. We wanted that bit of quality from him and I’m really pleased for Nigel.'

Atangana now waits to see if he keeps his place against AFC Wimbledon at Fratton Park on Boxing Day.

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