Reaction as the U's draw with Pompey
Frustration was the keyword for Michael Appleton after Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Portsmouth at the Kassam Stadium. Leading through Liam Sercombe’s first-half strike, United were pegged back by a long-range effort from Adam McGurk to preserve Pompey’s unbeaten start to the season.
“Frustration is definitely the word I’d use,” Michael told Yellow Player HD, “because we limited them to two shots on target, and one of them from 40 yards. Unfortunately that went in.
“But I think the way we dominated the game in the first half becomes the biggest frustration because if you don’t go and get that second goal then it is always dangerous against a good side like Portsmouth. They are always going to have a spell in the game and they had that for 20 minutes in the second half.
“The players are just as frustrated and disappointed that we didn’t put the game to bed in the first half. “
Remarkably it was the third game in a row in which the U’s have had to try and find a way through ten men:
“We’ve won one, lost one and drawn one,” Michael said . “We made a couple of changes and were gaining momentum and getting further up the pitch but the sending off meant Portsmouth dropped deeper. We couldn’t break it down but we have another home game next Saturday against Morecambe and we move on to that now and look to get another win.”
See the full interview plus full versions of the interviews below, as well as extended match highlights, in Yellow Player HD.