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Ricardo Santos produced the perfect riposte to Pompey’s trolls by helping delay their promotion party, says Ian Evatt.
Comments had surfaced online during the week from Australian striker Kusini Yengi, seemingly bragging about bettering the Bolton captain when the two sides met at Fratton Park back in December.
The content did make it back to Santos – and the defender seemed suitably fired up as he produced a man-of-the-match display in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at the Toughsheet.
Playing with a painkilling injection in his calf, Santos had to wait until the second half to reacquaint himself with Yengi, who started on the bench, but Evatt was delighted with his response.
“When Rico is in that form, when he is that determined, for me, he is the best centre-back in the league, I have said that all along," he said. “I thought he was outstanding.”
Alluding to Yengi’s comments, Evatt added: “I do think sometimes there should have been a bit more professional courtesy, you know what I am speaking about there, I don’t need to say much more.
“But Rico reacted in the right way and performed exactly as we know he can.”
The player himself was only disappointed that Wanderers could not get the win their pressure on the day perhaps deserved.
“There were comments before the game, I’m not on social media but I was getting messages,” he said. “I’m not bothered, I was focussed on trying to win the game.
“I tried to give everything I could. I know I can give a boost to the team if I play to my best and I’m gutted we couldn’t get the win but we have to go again.”
Though Wanderers have now surrendered the advantage they had over Derby County in second, Evatt is determined to keep the pressure on by closing the gap to a point and winning their game in hand against Shrewsbury Town.
He said: “Credit to Portsmouth for being so resilient, we put them under heavy pressure,” he said. “There was lots to like about it and now is not the time to feel sorry for ourselves, it is the time for me to lift everybody – the fanbase, the players, the staff, and say this isn’t over. If we do what we did there for large parts, we will be okay.
“The biggest focus and challenge now is to get everyone ready for Tuesday, try to replicate the atmosphere we created here, it was fantastic. It was a brilliant advert for this level of football, for these two football clubs and especially our own.”
Wanderers had fallen behind just seven minutes in, with Abu Kamara pouncing on an error in possession from Josh Sheehan which caught them on the back foot.
Evatt was happy with the response – but disappointed Pompey had been given a leg-up.
He said: “Everything we had guarded against and spoken to the players about before the game was that in transition we have to be particularly careful about Kamara, who is their biggest threat. We said we can’t be loose on the ball, especially early on, and open it up to those moments. And it is so unlike Josh to give the ball away from a throw in, and we probably could have prevented him from coming back in on his stronger foot, too.
“All of a sudden, we are behind, and it happened in a flash. But the whole team picked themselves up again, regathered some momentum and control of the game. I thought we dominated it.”
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