Portsmouth Can Still Beat The Drop Despite Loss - Avram Grant

Former Chelsea manager Avram Grant, confirmed this week as the man to replace departed Portsmouth boss Paul Hart, stands firm on his stance that the Hampshire side can survive in the Premier League this season despite the 4-1 trouncing they suffered at home to Manchester United.

A first-half Kevin-Prince Boateng spot-kick equalised an earlier Wayne Rooney conversion, although Pompey were helpless when conceding a further three to leave the Fratton Park turf 4-1 down.

"I don't think even the big teams have created this many chances against Manchester United," Grant said to Sky Sports, taking solace from his side's ability in the central zone and final third. "If we can continue with this spirit and playing this football where we are creating chances and pay attention to the little things then we can stay in the league.

"It will not be easy, but it is possible," he stated. "Every game will be a big game for us," the Israeli added.

"We lost and I don't like to lose. It was a strange game, because if you analyse the game you will see it was 4-1, but it was a good game for us and we created a lot of chances.

"We conceded soft goals, soft penalties. Our goalkeeper almost didn't touch the ball and United's goalkeeper made three great saves.

"It is strange to say because we lost this game but I can take a lot of good things from this game."