Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce hailed his side's fighting spirit after they recovered from a "dire" first half to claim three priceless points at Ewood Park.

Rovers were booed off at the break after Jamie O'Hara's long-range opener put Pompey in front but, after ringing the changes at the break, Allardyce saw his side coast home.

Allardyce said: "I don't normally get so radical at half-time but it was our worst first-half performance this season and the fans rightly showed their displeasure.

"It boiled down to the players not coping with Pompey's system so we took our wide men off and matched it. It worked tremendously well and it got us another important victory."

Allardyce put the dismal first half fare down to nerves as his side had the chance of clawing their way out of the bottom three at the expense of their opponents.

He added: "The players seemed to let the nerves get to them a little bit but they overcame their nerves and got a good result, so full marks to them in the end.

"We showed our quality at set pieces and with the third goal. We like to do it the hard way. It was a sloppy goal we conceded but we've recovered from it well."

Pompey boss Paul Hart expressed disappointment at his side's inability to deal with those set pieces in the second period as they slid to another defeat.

Hart said: "If you don't defend set pieces against Blackburn you are really in trouble, but we had defended them magnificently in the first half and played well.

"We were in control and they had put us in no real trouble. I don't think we've been undone by any great genius, we've been done on set pieces."

Hart expressed disappointment over a controversial first-half incident in which Pascal Chimbonda got away with a booking despite appearing to strike goalscorer O'Hara.

Hart said: "I couldn't understand how Jamie got booked as well. He was certainly pushed in the face and we've seen recently if you do that you walk. It was a pretty serious offence I would have thought."

However, Hart insisted he would continue to look on the positive side and believes Pompey head into the international break in much better shape than at the start of the season.

He added: "We've made a lot of progress. I think the problems we had in the summer were well documented. This is a setback but we're used to picking ourselves up and we'll do it again."