Lawrence in his Pomp

THE way people were warning him off going to Portsmouth, Liam Lawrence would hardly have been surprised to find a sign proclaiming ‘Abandon hope all ye who enter here’ greeting him at Fratton Park.

But a few goals and a few wins have changed everything and vindicated the Irish midfielder in his decision to drop down a division in search of regular football, after he’d been deemed surplus to requirements at Stoke City despite the substantial impact he has made at international level in the course of accumulating 10 caps for Ireland.

“I feel it was the right decision,” says Lawrence. “It’s a good club, I can tell that already from being there a couple of weeks. We’ve turned a corner, we’re unbeaten in three now. I think another four or five points and we’re up in the play-offs. It’s mad: we were rock bottom a couple of weeks ago and now we’re starting to look to see who’s above us.”