Home
Portsmouth caretaker manager Simon Bassey was left ruing a lack of composure in the final third following his side’s 1-0 defeat against Wanderers.
Jon Dadi Bodvarsson got the decisive goal during the first half, slotting home after some good work by strike partner Dion Charles.
The result sees the Whites advance to the semi-final where they will face Accrington, Cheltenham or Plymouth for a chance to play at Wembley.
Bassey, who took charge of the side following Danny Cowley’s sacking, reckons they made it difficult for themselves on the night.
“I thought we got into enough situations to find that final pass to go clean through on goal,” he told The Portsmouth News. “We had 3-4 of them in the first half and probably more than that in the second half – and we haven’t found the goals.
“Maybe when we are on a run like this, we’ve become a bit selfish at times and opt to shoot when someone else is in a better position. Maybe that’s a tad anxious on our behalf.
“The best players, when they get into that penalty area, the game slows down for them mentally. They have a deep breath, pick the right option and at the moment, it looks like it speeds up when we get in there.
“We were not good enough in the first half, I thought they got in between us a bit and we were a yard or two off it.
“We got into some good areas but crossed with poor quality. We probably didn't commit enough men to the box with that and ultimately came away from home in the quarter-final of a cup and lost off our long throw.
“We made it difficult for ourselves, didn’t play with enough energy, didn’t win enough duels.
“In the second half I thought we came out, stepped up a bit, turned the ball over a lot more and had five or six really good opportunities to find the final ball. But on the night, we never had enough quality to do so.”
Portsmouth are back at the University of Bolton Stadium on Saturday afternoon in League One action (3pm).
Source