Pompey debut dismay for Kieron Freeman

Kieron Freeman voiced his Pompey dismay following a debut which ended in a dreadful defeat.
Kieron Freeman. Picture: Joe PeplerKieron Freeman. Picture: Joe Pepler
Kieron Freeman. Picture: Joe Pepler

It took a spectacular strike from Leyton Orient’s Jobi McAnuff on 53 minutes to separate the sides at Fratton Park on Saturday.

Yet Kevin Nolan’s team could have won by more, such was the Blues’ lacklustre performance.

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For Freeman, the fixture marked his first Pompey appearance since his loan arrival from Sheffield United for the remainder of the campaign.

Selected at right-back in place of the popular Ben Davies, it represented a disappointing scoreline upon his introduction to the Fratton faithful.

Freeman said: ‘For the first half-an-hour we came out but it was kind of hard for us to get going.

‘The match kept stopping and starting. They were talking to the ref, there were five-minute breaks, Orient had a game plan and it worked for them.

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‘We just couldn’t get the momentum going, they were trying to slow it down.

‘Teams obviously have game plans and play different ways – ours is high tempo and to get at teams.

‘They tried to counter that on Saturday.

‘I thought we retained the ball really well.

‘Sometimes the chances come, sometimes they don’t.

‘Maybe if we took an early chance it changes the whole complexion of the game.

Football is such a funny, fickle game, things happen.

‘It was a great finish from McAnuff to win it but wasn’t a well-worked goal with passes.

‘It was a tackle and the ball dropped and he took it well.

‘He’s a good player and has played at a high standard.

‘We have a great bunch of lads, technically very goo, and these are exciting times, we have to keep going.’