Pompey's spirit returned against Dagenham and Redbridge just as quickly as it disappeared at Southend. Now boss Andy Awford is demanding more of the same when high-flying Wycombe visit Fratton.
The manager was delighted by the way his players dug in and scrapped for the midweek win over the Daggers so soon after their insipid display in Essex.
He told The News: ‘For 60 minutes against Southend I was fine, the bit I didn’t like was when we went behind there was no reaction. That really, really irritated me. When things go against you — on the football pitch or off the football pitch — you don’t just roll over and let it happen. You get up and you fight and, if I am being blunt and honest, we didn’t.
‘The other night when things didn’t quite go our way and Dagenham had a bit of possession, I didn’t see too many people roll over. I saw a bit of fight, I saw some sleeves rolled up, I saw some guts and I saw some people wanting to win a football match. That was the difference for me.
‘On Tuesday night, what I saw was a team that reacted to situations, that encouraged each other, dug each other out and we played at desire levels a lot higher. They still tried to play against Southend, of course they did. It’s just that after Southend scored it was the first time I stood there and thought "They don’t believe”.
‘The belief had gone with one header from Barry Corr. I didn’t want that on Tuesday and we didn’t. There were times in the game, especially 15 minutes in the second half, that Dagenham pushed us back and passed the ball really well — to be fair to them.
‘But we stood up to it, we dug in and got a reaction from the players, which is great and what we wanted. Now we have to maintain that.’
Nigel Atangana, Nick Awford, Ricky Holmes and Nicky Shorey are all available for selection. Ben Chorley (calf) and Ryan Taylor (groin) are out, while Tom Craddock (knee), Danny East (groin) and Wes Fogden (knee) are all sidelined longer-term.
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