Razak Impresses
by Neil Weld
He was only on the pitch for 28 minutes, but Abdul Razak has been tipped to be a huge hit at Pompey.
The 18-year-old midfielder – on a one-month loan from Manchester City – came on for David Norris for the final moments of the Blues’ 3-1 defeat at Derby.
A neat flick to shake off the attention of two Rams players and find a team-mate was an encouraging first sign.
And Hayden Mullins believes Razak is a great addition to Pompey’s ranks.
The midfielder said: “He’s a good player with lots of ability – you can tell why he’s at Manchester City.
“He’s come down here to get a few first team games and hopefully he can do that and learn his trade.
“He showed some nice touches and looks like he’s going to be a good player for us.”
Mullins was not so pleased with Pompey’s all-round performance at Pride Park, which saw them 3-0 down at the break before Jason Pearce grabbed a late consolation.
He said: “Derby got off to a flier and it was always going to be tough when we fell behind so early.
“We went there with a game-plan. We prepared tactically and physically – it was just a bad day for us. We’re disappointed and now we have to pick ourselves up.
“But we didn’t let our heads drop – we kept plugging away and working hard.
“We thought that if we could get a goal back early in the second half we would have them wobbling, but unfortunately it didn’t come until late on.”