Alex Rodman heaps praise on Abu Ogogo after man of the match display in draw against Portsmouth

by Callum Ellis

BRISTOL Rovers’ Alex Rodman heaped praise on teammate Abu Ogogo for his man of the match display in a tough game against Portsmouth.

Midfielder Ogogo worked tirelessly to help his side come from two goals behind to snatch a draw against Pompey.

Rodman fired home with 12 minutes remaining to halve the deficit before an own-goal from goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray grabbed the Gas a late point.

And it was midfielder Ogogo who set the tone for the Rovers’ comeback, making his presence felt all over the pitch in the adverse weather conditions.

“I said to him in the warm up that it could be his type of game,” said Rodman.

“It was not a good game with midfielders taking extra heavy touches and Abs thrives on that. He’s the last person you want coming around the corner and smashing people.

“But it gives everyone a lift and sets the tone. He’s on the front-foot, pressing and gets us going forward. He was fantastic at that today and throughly deserved man of the match. I thought he was brilliant.”

Rovers had fallen to back-to-back defeats against Doncaster and Bolton respectively, prior to Portsmouth’s arrival at the Memorial Stadium.

And it looked as though they would succumb to another when Ronan Curtis doubled Pompey’s advantage following Gareth Evans’ opener.

But despite trailing by two goals late on, Rodman admitted his team-mates were quietly confident that they could find a route back into the contest.

“It’s funny, a few people have said that they felt like we were going to score,” he added.

“I think the end result showed the character and team spirit in that dressing room. We’ve had a tough week but to come back and rescue a point after going 2-0 down to a very good Portsmouth side, who should be up there at the end of the season, I think that typified some of the resilience and character we’ve got.

“It was a reward to some of the fans really for the two of the previous results which we’ve not been happy with.

“There was a bit of bedlam after that [equaliser] and it was a great atmosphere. It’s nice to get something on the board after a tough week.”