Knight: Pompey need to hit winning run now

We need to get on a winning run if we are to get to where we want to be this season.
Bobby Campbell saw his Pompey side put together a couple of runs to earn promotion from the old Division Three in the 1982-83 seasonBobby Campbell saw his Pompey side put together a couple of runs to earn promotion from the old Division Three in the 1982-83 season
Bobby Campbell saw his Pompey side put together a couple of runs to earn promotion from the old Division Three in the 1982-83 season

We were on a decent run until last week’s defeat to Doncaster. Now the challenge is to string a consistent set of results together moving forward.

Wycombe are doing it at the moment, Cambridge are doing it at the moment and so are Colchester.

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As you enter this stage of the season it’s about winning games – and getting blocks of winning games.

It’s all very well being unbeaten, winning one, drawing a couple, winning and then losing. It’s got to be better to win five or six, lose one and then get back on the bike again.

That’s what Plymouth did earlier in the season. They lost a couple and then got back into a winning run again. Carlisle and Doncaster have done the same.

If we want to get out of this division we need to do the same – starting on Saturday against Leyton Orient.

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There were times we had those runs under Jim Smith and Bally in my playing career. The one which stands out, though, is the run under Bobby Campbell to get out of the old Division Three.

We went on an amazing run at that time and I can remember how that feeling grew. We had a four-game winning spell, won seven on the bounce and finished with six wins out of the last seven.

There wasn’t a lot of changes to the team. We didn’t have the squads they have now, but you’d get a system you were comfortable with, there weren’t many changes and you knew what was expected of you.

We need to get that team spirit going where you believe in your team mate and have that togetherness. If they do mess up you do anything to cover them.

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There’s no real formula for it – it’s confidence and belief.

When you win your games you don’t need to worry about anyone else. You need to look after yourself. That puts pressure on other teams and it’s a snowball effect.

The confidence builds and you get momentum. That belief between the players grows and you feel you can beat anyone. We’ve got just under half a season to go and that’s what needed.

The club is also mourning Paul Went, who sadly died last week.

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When I came here as a skinny little 14-year-old, I bumped into Paul at Eastney in the cabins there at our old training ground. He was huge! His thighs were bigger and wider than I was!

He was a real nice guy, though, but commanded respect – and rightly so. Paul was a senior figure and you had to gain their respect, but he treated you right. I got to know him over the years and he is going to be missed.