Gaffer: Port Vale was Portsmouth's worst league display and we won ugly - but I'm excited for season ahead

What did you make of that?

It wasn’t our best performance, in fact, of our six league games played this season, it was probably the worst.

There was not much cohesion as a team and, other than Dane Scarlett, the top part of the pitch was pretty inept, we didn’t really create anything.

Certainly I’ve been expecting a bit more from Owen Dale. I thought he’d be more Steve Coppell-esque, getting down the right wing and whipping balls into the box.

But overall we didn’t do a lot wrong at Port Vale and dealt with what they threw at us, including their first shot in the 92nd minute.

If we can win ugly like this, we’re going the right way.

Who was your man of the match?

Joe Rafferty didn’t do a lot wrong. It was between him and Marlon Pack, whose pass for the goal was sublime but probably wasn’t as commanding as he’s been in recent games.

Looking at Rafferty, he defended stoutly and two or three times positioned himself right to intercept and help us out.

I think he’s a fantastic player, a very, very solid right-back who can get forward.

It’s like going back to the times of Warren Neill, where we had an experienced player from a higher league come in at right-back to improve the team.

Full-backs these days are marauding animals who run up and down the line all-day long, but Rafferty fits the team at the moment and is the best defensive right-back we’ve had for a long, long time.

How do you assess Pompey’s promotion chances?

Realistically, I didn’t expect to be top of the table at the end of August.

Admittedly, other than a trip to Sheffield Wednesday, we’ve had quite a nice start to the season and I was looking at 10-11 points as a good haul after a month.

We now have a very testing September, with matches against Peterborough, Barnsley, Bolton, Plymouth and Ipswich.

I still think Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich will be the top two, although am unsure about which order.

But considering the way we’ve been playing, I’m expecting us to definitely reach the play-offs, finishing third or fourth in League One. I’m excited.

What do you make of Dane Scarlett?

You can see there’s talent in him, he possesses a lot of pace, a lot of power, and I now expect more goals from him.

He nearly fluffed Saturday’s chance, it looked like initially he was going to chip the keeper and then took it too far. But he scored, so it doesn’t matter.

Scarlett has a bit of cheekiness and finesse about him, while also works hard for the team, chasing down their defenders and putting them under pressure.

I like him. He’s different to Joe Pigott, who is more Sheringham-esque, while if you give Colby Bishop opportunities then he’ll knock them in all-day long.

Josh Griffiths – 7

Joe Rafferty – 8

Michael Morrison – 5 (Clark Robertson – 7)

Sean Raggett – 7

Connor Ogilvie – 7

Owen Dale – 6

Marlon Pack – 8

Tom Lowery – 7

Ronan Curtis – 6

Dane Scarlett – 7

Colby Bishop – 6