Ranieri's Rants: Portsmouth (a)

Feature by Rich Godden
Updated Friday, 13th February 2004

Claudio was in great spirits when he spoke to the press following the highly professional 2-0 win at Pompey...

Claudio said "I am very happy with the result at Manchester because we wanted to catch them up and now we want to catch Arsenal as well. I was at Arsenal (on Tuesday) and they are in very good condition but then so are Chelsea and we have two very big games with them coming up.

"I was not surprised that much by Manchester United's defeat. Middlesbrough are a strong side with a strong coach."

What of the Pompey game though Claudio..."Portsmouth are a strong side at home so it wasn't easy for us.

"We tried to play football but be direct as well. I am very happy that I am getting some of my injured players back."