Hart wants Pompey to turn nasty

NASTY is not the word that immediately associates itself with Paul Hart. Portsmouth’s amiable caretaker manager is as softly-spoken and courteous as they come in the Premier League pressure cooker but Hart has demanded his side embrace the dark arts if they wish to preserve their top flight status.

Pompey snatched an injury-time draw here, a welcome result given they had gone from 1-0 up to 2-1 down in the last 15 minutes, but the point was of little use to either side as they strive to stay out of trouble.

Hart has now collected four points from the two matches he has been in charge following the sacking of Tony Adams, a run which has allowed Portsmouth to stay five points above the relegation zone, but the temporary manager knows they cannot afford to ease up.

“We showed desire, resilience and courage to take the lead and then come back at Stoke and I have nothing but praise for the lads,” he said. “We have said all along we have to do the nasty bits. The Premier League isn’t all the beautiful game; it is about doing the bits that count and I thought we did them extremely well.”

Hart, Portsmouth’s director of youth operations, again refused to commit himself to being interested in taking on the manager’s job on a full-time basis.

Former England and Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and ex-Pompey director of football Avram Grant have both been linked with the club but if Hart continues to steer them away from trouble he could make a case for a permanent role.

“I’m contracted to the club so I’ve been asked to step into the breach and that is my role at the moment,” he added.

“All we are doing is preparing game to game and that is as far as I’m looking.”

This game was destined for the ‘instantly forgettable’ category for the first 75 minutes until the match exploded into life.

Niko Kranjcar opened the scoring after a neat interchange between himself, and strikers Peter Crouch and David Nugent but then it started to go wrong for Portsmouth.

Three minutes later referee Mike Jones wrongly awarded a penalty against Glen Johnson when the ball bounced off the defender’s shoulder to allow James Beattie to fire home from the spot.

Within 120 seconds the former Everton striker headed home a second from close range from Danny Pugh’s bouncing shot and that looked to be enough until, in the second minute of injury time, Hermann Hreidarsson’s strike was deflected in by Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross.

“The overall mood is one of disappointment,” Beattie said. “We were a little bit naive to leave Hermann unmarked at the back stick,” he said.

Beattie has now scored four goals in five matches since his £3.5million transfer from Sheffield United last month but he stressed he was more concerned with the club’s fortunes.

“It wasn’t one of my best games but it is up to a striker to score goals,” he said.

“We’ve come away with a point and I think the overall picture of the club is more important than what I do on the pitch.

“That’s why I’m here, to help the team and help us stay up.”

STOKE (4-4-2): Sorensen 5, Wilkinson 6, Shawcross 5, Abdoulaye Faye 5, Higginbotham 6, Lawrence 5 (Tonge 66, 5), Diao 6, Amdy Faye 6, Pugh 6, Sidibe 6 (Cresswell 84, 5), Beattie 8.

Subs Not Used: Simonsen, Whelan, Kitson, Camara, Sonko.

PORTSMOUTH (4-4-2): James 6, Johnson 6, Campbell 6, Distin 6, Hreidarsson 7, Pennant 6, Basinas 5 (Mullins 71, 5), Davis 6, Kranjcar 7 (Kanu 89, 5), Crouch 6, Nugent 6 (Belhadj 89, 5).

Subs Not Used: Begovic, Kaboul, Pamarot, Utaka.

REFEREE: Mike Jones (Cheshire) 4: Got the penalty decision horribly wrong.

MATCH RATING: *** The quality levels were low, but the flurry of goals at the end provided a grandstand finish.