'Bitter pill' - Former Newcastle United stalwart delivers relegation battle verdict
A former Newcastle United favourite is in the midst of a relegation battle after returning to his first club during the summer.
Former Newcastle United star Matt Ritchie has warned Portsmouth not to wallow in hard luck stories as the Championship club continue to struggle to find form upon their return to second tier.
After scoring 25 goals and making over 200 appearances during an eight-year stay on Tyneside, former Scotland international Ritchie made an emotional return to the club where he kicked off his professional career when he penned a two-year deal at Fratton Park in August. However, his return to the South Coast has not gone as planned as John Moutinho’s side have failed to build on the momentum gained by last season’s League One title win. After being condemned to a third defeat in the last four games by a 1-0 home loss against fellow strugglers Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday night, Pompey currently sit at the bottom of the Championship and are now five points from safety.
Despite watching his side enjoy the better of their clash with Wayne Rooney’s men, Ritchie stressed Portsmouth have to ‘dig deep and find something more’ as they look to kickstart what he hopes will be a successful battle to avoid an immediate return to League One.
He told The Portsmouth News: “It’s a bitter pill to swallow but ultimately we have to be better. I thought we were good and the performance was there, but we have to raise our standards. We created chances we weren’t able to take. They took their chance and they didn’t have many - that is the level of the Championship and its fine margins. I thought we performed really well, but ultimately not well enough to win the game - so we have to raise the bar and do more. It (the Championship) is absolutely not (a place for hard luck stories).
“We can’t look at anyone else than ourselves for the position we’re in. We have to dig deeper and find something more. We have to look internally at ourselves and what we can improve on, what we can do better. Collectively we’ll do that and have to raise the bar. The league is the league, it’s not going to change for us - we have to change for the league. We have to be clinical and more ruthless in both boxes. We have to raise the level.”
Portsmouth are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they visit Preston North End.