Joe Morrell has admitted it's not good enough for Pompey to have finished short of claiming a play-off place.

The Welsh midfielder is set to return to the squad for the trip to Derby after a four0match ban for his second red card of the season, picked up at MK Dons.

He comes back with Pompey having two games left - but nothing apart from their final position outside the top six to play for.

He told the club website: 'It’s disappointing that we don’t really have anything to play for with two games remaining. It’s not a position that any of us wanted to be in and we know the expectations of this club in this league.

'We know that anything short of the play-offs just isn’t good enough, while personally you can split my season in two halves. I probably came back a bit too early in the summer after playing for Wales and then picked up an injury, but you’ve seen a better version of me since the World Cup.'

Morrell spoke of his determination to help Pompey faring better next season - and the need to manage his own game better to avoid more red cards.

'It’s been very frustrating, ' he said of his time on the sidelines. 'But I’ve only got myself to blame for that and you have to deal with the consequence of your actions. I’m more than happy to take the flak and the difficult thing has been watching these past few games and knowing that I could be making a difference. It’s been excruciating.

'I can have no complaints and have to take responsibility — it’s something that I’ve got to learn from. I apologised to the boys afterwards. I’ve always been an intense and aggressive player and don’t want to take that away from my game, but I’ve got to manage it correctly.

'So I’ve got to get my head down, repay the faith people have shown in me and make sure this club is fighting at the top end of the table next season.'

Photo: Action Images

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