Harry made a massive 10 changes to the side that won at Charlton with Kiely, Duffy, Pamarot, O'Brien, Kranjcar, Fernandes, Hughes, Koroman, Lua Lua and Cole coming into the side leaving Matthew Taylor as the only player left from the previous starting line-up.
Pompey made a good start after Manuel Fernandes thundered in a 30 yard screamer in the 5th minute of the match to hand the Premiership side an early lead and that lead was doubled when Matthew Taylor struck after a short corner from Lua Lua as we looked comfortable.
There is no doubt however that Mansfield will take the plaudits in the second half as they constantly held us back in our own half and even threatened to take the game into extra time as a mistake by Richard Duffy allowed Danny Reet to pull one back late on leading into a flurry of pressure from the home side though Pompey were able to hold on for the win much to our relief.
I'm just glad we got the job done personally. This was always going to be a tricky tie and with a makeshift back four we were always likely to concede too. I heard that Niko Kranjcar had a good game and Manuel Fernandes also showed why he will fit into the English style of football, although he was a bit overran in the second half as he is still finding his fitness. Andy Cole didn't get much service so it's hard to judge him whilst Douala came on as a late sub.
You have to give Mansfield credit for giving it a real go and making it tough for a team who haven't played together before, so also credit goes to the Pompey players for seeing a tough game through. The main thing is that we're in the draw for the next round, it's just a matter of avoiding the big guns!
On a side note, I managed to catch the end of Panorama and it showed a video conversation between Redknapp and a fake agent representing Andy Todd. When the agent asked if Redknapp wanted him Harry said "Yeah I'll take him" basically. Hardly substantial is it considering there was no mention of taking bungs or anything like that, I'm sure Harry would have said the same if the agent asked if he wanted Theirry Henry.
The set up seemed sensationalist and with no real evidence to suggest Harry was dodgy on this occasion. Kevin Bond was recorded in a conversation stating that he'd talk to Harry about a possible new agency although there was no hard evidence to suggest he'd been taking bungs either.
The main matter tonight though is that Pompey are through to the third round of the Carling Cup after a difficult game.