Pompey trailed 2-0 at AFC Wimbledon in the EFL Trophy - then led 3-2. But they ended up losing 5-3 and Pompey boss Danny Cowley was unimpressed at his team's woeful defending in the final 10 minutes, when the Dons scored three.

Wimbledon used to be known as the Crazy Gang and this was a crazy game, said Cowley.
'It was a crazy game of football and we’re really disappointed to lose after fighting so hard to be in such a good position after 80 minutes,' he told the club webiste.

'To concede five goals is incredibly annoying — I can’t remember the last time one of my sides did that. There’s a lot to ponder and it’s a difficult one to analyse right after the game. We’ll have to watch it back and pick the bones out of it.

'We changed the system after about 15 minutes and went to a back three and looked much better after that.'

One bright spot was a hat-trick for Ellis Harrison, which would appear to put Cowley under pressure to give him his chance at MK Dons on Saturday in a side short of league goals.

Cowley added: 'I’m pleased for Ellis and he was certainly one of the positives on the night — he looked a real handful for us. Mahlon Romeo was very assured on his debut and played with real athleticism on the right-hand side, while Louis Thompson was really strong in the second half

'It wasn’t easy because we lost Alex Bass and had to get an emergency loan keeper in, but Jake Eastwood did just fine. That was the first time he’d met the group and he didn’t really know our game idea, so that made it tougher.

'We picked the players who needed minutes and could have had a more experienced bench, but didn’t want this match to affect our preparations for Saturday. Some of the guys looked really short of match practice and will have to do better if they want a place in our team.'

Photo: Action Images

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