Carl Baker helped Pompey demolish Grimsby - then spoke of his relief at ending his goal drought.

Baker got Pompey's third on the stroke of half-time as they put the Mariners to the sword to go six points clear in third place.

He told the official club website: 'It was nice to see the ball go in the back of the net from a personal point of view because I hadn’t scored for a few weeks. That was in the back of my mind and it was a big relief.

'There have been games when I’ve felt good, but not got a goal or an assist and, in the position I play, you always leave the field disappointed if that’s the case. I feel like a weight’s been lifted off my shoulders now and it does make a big difference to your confidence.'

Baker, having reclaimed his starting spot after being relegated to the bench recently, said it was an important win in which the Blues profited from an overdue dose of good luck. He told the site: 'We scored the goals at very good times. To get the fourth right at the start of the second half was a big relief because it was virtually game over.

'For the last 40 minutes we just felt in control, so we just kept possession and made sure the ball stayed moving. It was nice to play in. Grimsby started the game well and their lad hit the post with an unbelievable strike. If that goes in it could have been different.

'We haven’t had much luck all season, so it was definitely due when we then got a couple of deflected goals. The lads are feeling really confident at the moment and it’s been a big difference from the Crewe game when we got a bit of stick from the fans.

'We needed a reaction from that and we’ve got one in the past few games. We’ve been bang at it and everyone’s feeling great. We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves, though, because there are still a lot of points to play for this season.”

Pompey head to Stevenage on Saturday.

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