Portsmouth 2, Bury 1

NEIL Warnock has warned that watching Bury will not be pretty from now on.

Fancy football will take a back seat in the 15-game run-in with Warnock deciding that spirit will come before skill in deciding who he throws into the heat of the relegation battle.

With only 15 games remaining the Gigg Lane manager is convinced that the will to win must be the number one priority.

"I have to pick 11 lads with big hearts and worry about football after," he said.

"You have to get people who are ready to roll up their sleeves and die for the cause.

"Everybody will write us off but there are 15 games to go and we have to win battles."

This latest devastating blow to their confidence as well as their survival hopes highlighted plenty more problems the Shakers boss must iron out. In particular, their weaknesses in both goalmouths. A total lack of craft and penetration up front gave the Pompey defence a day off while schoolboy errors at the back handed their relegation rivals two goals and two more gilt-edged chances.

Indeed it was only the heroics of Dean Kiely in twice denying veteran goal poacher Guy Whittingham in the space of three second half minutes which rescued Bury from a far more crushing defeat.

How Bury could do with someone with the tried and tested predatory instincts of Whittingham or his equally elusive veteran partner Steve Claridge up front.

The Shakers managed just one shot of note before Kemajl Avdiu blasted his first goal for the club with a left foot volley deep into injury-time. And that came from a midfielder, Mark Patterson announcing his return from a two-month loan spell at Blackpool with a 25-yard screamer that took a wicked deflection off Alan McLoughlin and brought a stunning fingertip save out of Andy Petterson with the scoreline still blank.

Bury started brightly and monopolised possession with plenty of neat passing play right up to Matthew Robinson's 39th minute opener with his first ever professional goal. But once they fell behind, their challenge faded. The situation cried out for men with character to rise to the challenge but few answered the call and once Whittingham finally beat Kiely with a free header on 64 minutes it was game over.

Skipper for the day Nick Daws toiled tirelessly to lead by example and Mark Patterson wore his heart on his sleeve as ever.

Patterson, who was loaned out to Blackpool for two months after a row with Warnock over his lack of first team opportunities, filled the gap left by Lennie Johnrose's £225,000 move to Burnley and now wants the chance to lead the troops in the battle against relegation.

"It's good to be back," he said.

"The things that were said between myself and the manager were in the heat of the moment and I admit I could have handled it better.

"But that's all in the past and now and all I want to do is play a few games.

"Darren Bullock will be a good signing for us because he's a big, hard player and I would love to play in the middle with him because I think we could scare a few people." On the latest setback he added: "We gave our all but we didn't create chances. If you don't create chances you don't score and if you don't score you don't win games. It's as simple as that.

"Also we conceded two dreadful goals through individual defensive mistakes.

"But you can't keep having a go at the defenders because they are being put under a lot of pressure and they are entitled to ask the forwards for some help."

Warnock said: "It was like a practice match early on.

"We had so much of the ball it was almost too easy. Then we gave a goal away out of nothing.

"It's all right having the ball and passing it around but you have to have the urgency as well and we didn't have that urgency. We don't get crosses early enough into the box.

"I thought Nick Daws was absolutely magnificent. How he could come off the pitch and not be on the winning side is beyond me."

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