Pre-season results not important? Don't you believe it!
Saturday, 11th Jul 2015 08:20 by pompey-fans.com staff

Pre-season friendly it might be, but for Paul Cook a positive result is certainly on his Pompey wish-list at Havant today.

The manager does not subscribe to the view that results are not important in these games and he wants his team to get into the winning habit from early on.

‘I just want to win,’ Cook told The News. ‘If we were to get beat I wouldn’t be too hard on the players. At Chesterfield we lost games at Lincoln, Southport, plenty of places. You can guarantee in football so-called lesser teams beat bigger teams in pre-season.

‘That is the nature of the game we are in and no-one will ever change it. But if you are trying to create an environment of winning then you have to go into games looking to get a victory. Turning round and saying “Let’s just get fit” is not right, not at all.

‘There must be an edge to what we are doing. If we are playing Havant away from home backed by a large following, they want to see us win, they want to see us try to look good. If we can do all the things in one game then we will all come away very happy.'

Pompey are likely to have a large following at West Leigh Park although the £15 admission charge might put some off.

Match report here tonight.