Former Portsmouth winger Liam Lawrence has said the club is 'brilliant' but admitted that he joined at a bad time.

The 38-year-old is now retired from the professional game, but played for clubs such as Stoke and Sunderland over the course of a career that spanned 18 years. He was also capped by the Republic of Ireland a total of 15 times.

As the football season has come to a halt, Lawrence took to social media to do a question and answer session with his followers, and the topic of Pompey came up.

Reflecting on his time at the south coast club, Lawrence said, "I honestly think it's a brilliant club with really good supporters, I just joined at a bad time - it was so difficult."

"So much going on behind the scenes constantly."

QUIZ: Can you name every Portsmouth front-of-shirt-sponsor from the last fifteen seasons?

Lawrence joined Pompey on the 31 August 2010 from Stoke as part of an exchange deal, but as it was completed after the transfer deadline, he signed on an emergency loan, then eventually joining permanently in January 2011.

He went on to make 58 appearances for the club over two seasons in the Championship, with the second resulting in Pompey's relegation to League One.

In January 2012, Portsmouth were in the headlines once again as they went into administration for the second time in three seasons, which resulted in a ten-point deduction.

Despite the club's financial difficulties at the time, Lawrence stated that he wouldn't walk away from the club.

However, it came to pass that Michael Appleton simply could not afford to scan Lawrence's injured calf because the dire financial situation at Portsmouth. He was then sent on loan to Cardiff for the remainder of that season.

Lawrence eventually left the club in August 2012 after agreeing to a mutual contract termination.

The Verdict:

Lawrence's verdict on his time at Portsmouth is an interesting insight, and it makes it clear that in the ideal situation, he would've liked to remain at Fratton Park.

However, things were out of his control, and he will surely have regrets about the end of his Pompey career.

Lawrence went on to play for five more clubs after his time at Pompey came to an end.