Conor Chaplin’s time to shine at Pompey

A fantastic fortnight has seen the Blues make the most of their 16,000 home spectators, after netting seven goals in their two consecutive games at Fratton Park.

Fans have certainly not gone away disappointed after Crawley Town and initial promotion favourites Wycombe Wanderers were brushed aside emphatically.

However, it was a worrying start to the campaign for the South Coast outfit, who only managed a draw at home on the opening day of the season to ten-man Carlisle United. This was followed by an agonising draw at Crewe Alexandra and a below-par performance at Morecambe, resulting in a 2-0 defeat.

Nevertheless, one player who hasn’t gone unnoticed is 19-year-old Conor Chaplin.

“He’s one of our own,” rung out around the stadium as the striker prepared to come on after 25 minutes against the Chairboys, following a head injury that required 20 stitches to Curtis Main.

While some may have been fearful that the loss of Main, who netted twice the week before in a 3-0 win over Crawley, would weaken Pompey further, with Paul Cook’s side already finding themselves 1-0 down, Chaplin stepped up to the mark.

Pompey boss Cook could hand Chaplin his first league start of the season against Accrington on Saturday – Photo: Steve Parkin / Offside.

An old head on young shoulders certainly paid diligence as the 5ft 6in menace used his lightening pace to get in behind the defence and net a calm and collected finish, giving Pompey a last-gasp lead heading into half-time.

A continuing threat in the second-half, it goes without saying that Chaplin, who has found starts hard to come by this term, deserves his spot in Cook’s line-up for Saturday’s affair with Accrington Stanley.

Particularly with Main still a doubt and out-of-favour Michael Smith being restricted to the bench in recent weeks, it would really seem as though the Worthing-born forward now has his chance of a run in the first-team.

Manager Cook, alongside his assistant Leam Richardson, watched on as an Under-23 side overcame Barnsley in the Premier League Cup on Monday, with Chaplin featuring heavily and playing his part in the 2-0 win. The young starlet looked impressive once again, linking up well with fellow first-team player Noel Hunt up front and latching onto forward balls from summer signing Matt Clarke.

Therefore, he’ll be more than ready to not just face a hungry Accrington side come Saturday, but also tough upcoming opponents in the form of Barnet, Blackpool and Doncaster, the latter of which are also enjoying their football, netting five in last weekend’s thrashing of high-flyers Morecambe.