Hart predicts new investment soon as Pompey win at last

Portsmouth manager Paul Hart believes his crisis-hit club can finally look forward to a brighter future with substantial new investment set to follow their first win of the season.

Hart’s team had made the worst start to an English top-flight season for 79 years after losing their opening seven matches, but they ended that woeful run with a 1-0 victory at Wolverhampton on Saturday.

Hassan Yebda’s first half strike couldn’t lift Portsmouth off the bottom of the Premier League, but it did banish some of the gloom around Fratton Park at the end of a traumatic week.

Hart confirmed the outstanding wages owed to certain players and staff will be paid on Monday after the club was forced to reveal last Wednesday that they had been unable to meet all their salary obligations.

New owner Sulaiman Al-Fahim, who is recovering from an operation in Dubai, is already planning a 150 million pounds injection into the club.

But Hart is expecting more investment on top of that into the south coast club.

“The wages will be paid on Monday. I would expect the wages problem not to be happening again on the basis of the new investment,” Hart said.

“I think what is best said is over the next few days we will have new investment and this club will have some good news instead of bad stuff.

“Will there be new investment? Yes.”

Hart was full of praise for the character his players showed when they could have been forgiven for having their minds elsewhere.

He said: “It was a great win. We have played better over the past month. We played well in the first half and defended tremendously in the second half.

“The whole group have been tremendous. Everyone knows our problems and what we have been through the last six months.

“These players have had everything thrown at them but they have stayed strong.

“They are a great bunch of lads, they show great spirit and they have never wavered.

“Yes, we got a few breaks today. We have earned it and some of the defending was excellent.”

Wolves had strong claims for a penalty denied when Marc Wilson appeared to handle a cross from Michael Kightly.

But Wolves boss Mick McCarthy was more concerned about his side’s defending when Yebda snatched the only goal of the game after 20 minutes.

He said: “I am getting a bit tired about saying, ‘we should have had a penalty’ because it sounds like I am bemoaning my luck.

“But if we defend a corner properly or a second ball that comes in, then we might be talking about that (the penalty claim) to win the game rather than to save it.

“That is more my grief. But if it is a penalty, he should have given it. There is no point in me speculating on it anymore.”