Neil Allen's Video Verdict on Portsmouth 2-2 draw with Derby

Pompey 2 Derby 2: Neil Allen's video verdict

Transcript

00:00Oh, here I am still at Fratton Park. We're just waiting to speak to the man at the moment,

00:10Rob Atkinson. I think he's got a bit of treatment. Absolutely shattered on his return to the

00:16first team. 490 minutes, three goals, two in the right net. What an afternoon. What

00:22a warrior really, wasn't it? Yeah, it's... What do you say about that game today? Entering

00:29stoppage time. It just looks... It was a bleak, bleak day, wasn't it, really? Pompey losing,

00:35Oxford were winning and the results going against them and then suddenly at the death. They

00:42grab an equaliser for themselves, don't they? And yeah, I was just exhausted by it. No doubt

00:48everyone who watched that game will feel exhausted as well, especially after Wednesday. Pompey

00:53weren't that good, let's be honest, but they found a way, didn't they? They found a way

00:57to fight back twice, level twice and get a point. And yeah, if Derby had won, that would

01:05have been a hugely, hugely concern. They would have gone Pompey and suddenly opens up the relegation

01:08issue. As it is, suddenly Pompey now has four points above the relegation zone. So yeah,

01:15it was just a big, big point just not to lose in the end for Pompey and you take it from the position

01:23they're in. Concerns, definitely. Two goals came from crosses. The first cross, it should have been

01:31cut out by Matt Ritchie. Should have been done far better in that position. The second goal,

01:36Swanson was out of position, wasn't he? Down that side and they broke and then put the ball in and

01:41and actually stood it into his own net. So yeah, it was frustrating the way Pompey could see those

01:46two goals, but they fought back both times. A lot of nerves around Fratton Park, completely

01:52understandable. It was one of those games, wasn't it really? And especially when Derby led twice as

01:58well. But they came back and I think we could well be looking back at the end of this season

02:05saying that was a crucial, crucial point. Just as it was a year ago when Owen Moxham leveled to

02:09deny Derby a victory here. It could well be the same in Kent again, couldn't it? And the Derby

02:15players were gutted to leave with a point rather than three. They thought they had it there. So

02:20it's the battle goes on, doesn't it, for Pompey? Do they need two wins now? Do they really only need

02:26one? Four games to go, isn't it? And you're looking at Luton with six points behind,

02:30Flimmer for six points behind. So you're looking there as well. And Pompey, I'm 2-5 now behind

02:36Stoke and Oxford, who both won today as well. So that's still open. Plenty of twists and turns,

02:40as Isaac Hayden said to me afterwards as well. So yeah, unfortunately, two games are away from home

02:45in the final four, but that's how it is. But yeah, ultimately, ultimately, considering the circumstances,

02:51considering entering stoppage time, Pompey going to lose, that's a point you'd gladly accept,

02:56but not the performance, without a doubt. Thank you.