It was only a matter of time before it came up with Villa the opponents tomorrow, I am just surprised that it took so long for The News to talk to Niko Kranjcar about ‘his goal’ against England last month, which came of course against Villa keeper Scott Carson.
Obviously, as you would expect Kranjcar admits that he will be trying to score again tomorrow, but hopes that he will not need any help from Carson this time: ‘this time I hope I score without him helping me.
‘I’ll be practising my 25 yarders as I always do’.
While Kranjcar admitted his surprise that he did not save his effort he has been quick to praise Carson – who is a fantastic keeper – but does admit it might give him a slight ‘psychological’ edge ahead of the game, but it is not just about these two, he sees the bigger picture: ‘I don’t think Carson will be thinking about me tomorrow, though. He’s an international keeper.
‘He’ll try to put the match out of his mind. His form after that game has been better than it was in that game, too.
‘When you think about it, he made two excellent saves that kept England in it for much longer than they were supposed to be.
‘So the loss wasn’t just his fault.
‘Maybe I have the psychological edge but it’s not just about me versus Scott Carson, it’s Portsmouth versus Aston Villa’.
Kranjcar has been in fantastic form this season and just seems to get better and better all the time, some of his skills and play against Everton last weekend were outstanding, at times breathtaking.
People talk about Cristiano Ronaldo having quick feet, but Kranjcar gives him a run for his money on that score without or the ‘Irish jigging’ that goes with it…
Everything seems to be going through him at the moment and I would expect this to be the case again tomorrow. The pressure is not on him, but it is now getting to the point – in my thinking anyway – that you now ‘expect’ something to happen when he is on the ball, and more often than not recently it has.
PLAY UP POMPEY!
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