Scott Allan urged his former Pompey team-mates to believe they still can beat the drop.
The Scottish midfielder completed his Fratton Park loan and returned to West Brom following Friday night’s 2-0 defeat at Walsall.
That defeat left the Blues entrenched in the League One relegation zone and without a win in 14 games.
Pompey’s hopes of surviving their latest battle against relegation suffered a further blow after it was revealed yesterday that Jon Harley and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing were joining Allan out the exit door.
And with The News understanding that Brian Howard, Lee Williamson and Mustapha Dumbuya are also set to depart in further cost-cutting moves, Pompey’s chances of climbing out of the relegation zone appear remote.
The fact that a 10-point deduction also hangs over the club means many fans are already resigning themselves to watching League Two football next season.
But Allan remains optimistic another Great Escape can be achieved.
He believes the confidence achieved by a long-awaited win can spur the side on and propel Pompey to safety.
‘Confidence is pretty low and, when you keep giving goals away as we did, then it’s always a battle,’ he said. ‘The team needs some results quickly to have a chance of staying up.
‘It’s going to have to happen soon otherwise this club will be relegated and nobody wants to see that happen.’
Pompey will be boosted by the news that key defender Gabor Gyepes has agreed to extend his Pompey stay to the end of January.
His presence has been missed in the centre of the Blues defence in recent games as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury.
Pompey crashed to defeat at Banks’s Stadium on Friday night, despite another promising opening to the game.
Allan felt the goals before half-time had knocked the stuffing out of Pompey.
‘When you give goals away like that, it’s so hard to get back into it,’ said Allan.
‘They were cheap goals as well so it’s a battle to get back into the game after that.
‘The way things had been going, we needed to keep it tight and get that first goal ourselves.
‘But it’s been the story of the past few months and certainly of the time I was there.
‘Sometimes you can get away with doing it for maybe 80 minutes and ride your luck a bit when things are not going your way.
‘But you can’t keep making excuses. Sometimes you need to look at yourself.
‘The quality needs to be better from everyone and then you start winning a few more games.’
– STEVE WILSON
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