Portsmouth manager Kenny Jackett has said that he felt it was essential that changes were made to the starting XI for yesterday's FA Cup fifth round tie with Arsenal.

The clash ended in a 2-0 win for the Gunners, although Portsmouth did make a good fist of it during the course of the game.

Goals from Sokratis and Eddie Nketiah either side of the break proved to be the difference at Fratton Park.

Jackett made a total of six changes to the starting lineup for Pompey, in what was third match in under a week.

Skipper Tom Naylor, Sean Raggett and Ronan Curtis all dropped to the bench, with John Marquis and Andy Cannon also making way.

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It meant starts for Ellis Harrison and Gareth Evans, and James Bolton partnered up with Christian Burgess at the heart of defence.

Speaking to the Portsmouth News, Jackett revealed the reasons behind his selection decisions.

"Coming off a Christmas period, there’s eight games through January, eight games through February and seven in March, so the side is going to change, it has to, we have quite good availability," he said.

"To expect the same XI all the time is unrealistic, it is never going to happen, they are not going to be able to do their best."

Jackett added that he wanted there to be sufficient energy in the team with the players he chose.

"To expect the same players to go right the way through a 60-plus game season is unrealistic," he said.

He also gave the reasons behind dropping Tom Naylor, who has been a mainstay of the team throughout the course of the season.

"Tom’s a key player for us and the captain, he’s a great player, but if you are looking at him in the last couple of games, he has looked leggy at times," Jackett added.

The Verdict

It is clear to see that Jackett was treating the match as a so called 'free-hit', and changes were always likely to be made despite the quality of the opposition.

Portsmouth were also in a similar position last season in terms of the volume of fixtures that they had, due to their participation in the EFL Trophy.

However, the team ran out of steam right at the death, as they lost in the play-off semi-finals to Sunderland.

Jackett will have to try and manage his squad in the best possible way to avoid it happening again, especially with promotion being the priority.