Pompey welcome Oldham tomorrow with the players being told they can dictate whether another crackling Fratton Park atmopshere will be the order of the day.
The home fans were in good voice for the win over Bristol Rovers on Tuesday evening and assistant boss Joe Gallen was highly impressed. But he says it's down to the team to get the fans going with an upbeat performance against the Latics.
He told The News: ‘It starts from the players — not the fans. The players have to get the fans energised, it’s player-led. Everyone reacts to what we do on the ball.
‘We didn’t have a lot of it in the first half, in fairness, but had a team which looked hungry to play for Portsmouth. And I thought the fans saw that and reacted off that. Fans do like tackles, they do like chasing lost causes, they do like people being aggressive.
‘This club is a bit of a working-class club and you have to play a bit of working-class football. The fans really backed the team even though we didn’t do as well on the ball as we would have liked. The atmosphere was superb, I was really impressed with the volume and passion.
'It was the best I have heard since being here. ‘Some Tuesday night games can be hard work in terms of the atmosphere, obviously not here, but at other clubs I’ve been at.
‘The home team’s fans have work in the morning — different to a Saturday — and you have to entertain them a little bit earlier and a bit quicker to get the atmosphere going. Not here, though. I do think they saw a team giving it everything, despite not doing great on the ball.’
Kenny Jackett is not expected to make too many changes to his line-up with those who missed Tuesday's game through injury, like Conor Chaplin, expected to be still sidelined.
Oldham come south one of the bottom but boosted by a 3-2 midweek win at home to Peterborough, only their second success of the season so far.
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