Mark Robins Says Stoke Were Victims Of ‘Dark Arts’ Against Portsmouth But Pompey Boss Responded Him

Mark Robins said his Stoke side were victims of the dark arts as they slipped to a 3-1 defeat at Portsmouth.

Colby Bishop converted a penalty and Callum Lang capitalised on some indecisive defending to put Pompey two-up in nine minutes before Connor Ogilvie made the match safe early in the second half.

Ben Wilmot had made it 2-1 in the first half but Robins bemoaned being beaten in the physical side of the clash.

Robins said: “I’m really disappointed. Portsmouth set the tone from the start and we didn’t live with that. We allowed them to bully us all night.

“They set their stall out by throwing themselves to the floor, fouling us and kicking us, all the dark arts. They have old-manned us tonight.

“They have players with experience who have come up on the other side of the game.

“It was old school type of football but we have to be able deal with it and not just think that teams will allow you to come and play.

“They ran harder, that is how they put us under pressure. That’s what they are and how they’ve been built.

“We can show our players all that beforehand and if it still surprised you then you aren’t going to get anything from the game.

“Where they were miles better was in the physical department. I suppose some of our young players have never come up against that in their lives and it can be a big shock.

“Ultimately you have to be able to deal with it and be able to fight back and earn the right to play football.”

Pompey boss John Mousinho responded to the dark arts comment by saying: “It is a nice compliment but I didn’t think we were like that.

“I don’t know if you would call it dark arts but I felt like we weren’t naive – like we have been in previous matches.”

The victory, Pompey’s sixth in their last seven home fixtures, saw them jump up to 18th – their highest position since late August – and above Stoke.

Mousinho, who celebrated his two-year anniversary at the club this week, added: “It feels great. We knew how important it was pre-game and just about everything about the game was great.

“We knew we could get up the league and above Stoke, so we knew the result was important tonight but the performance in the second half was one of our best displays of the season.

“We didn’t play scintillating football but were ruthless, clinical and came out on top in pretty much every area.

“We have to make sure we build upon these wins. They are our first back-to-back wins this year.

“I think we are progressing but the next stage is that while we are looking up, we don’t think we have cracked it and the job is done.

“We will judge ourselves at the back end of the season if we are a good side. For now, we have a lot of work to do.”