LUTHER BLISSETTS arrival at Portsmouth

SCORE: It's sheer bliss for Pompey hotshot

I'm Yak on track

From Jeremy Butler at Ewood Park

LUTHER BLISSETT'S arrival at Portsmouth reaped instant dividends as the once-wayward Yakubu fired the winner to end the strugglers' away jinx.

Former Watford frontman Blissett has been hired by Harry Redknapp to give Yakubu some shooting lessons in a bid to solve his side's lack of goals.

And Yakubu, 21, showed a new-found composure to strike eight minutes from time and lift Pompey out of the relegation zone, leaving them a point behind Blackburn.

Sub Lomana LuaLua set off at pace on a jinking run into the Rovers box and, when Craig Short stuck in a foot, the loose ball ran to Nigerian.

In the past, the youngster has been prone to panic but this time he clipped a delicate finish past Brad Friedel to add to his winner against Southampton last Sunday.

But Portsmouth needed a touch of luck to record their first Premiership away victory of the season and Andy Cole missed a sitter for Rovers with six minutes left.

Pompey boss Redknapp said: "Yak is a handful. He hasn't scored as many goals as he should have done but getting two winners on the bounce will do him good.

"He's a fantastic person but he's still raw and learning the game.

"Working with Luther may have helped but don't forget he did score last week as well. We needed that one. We have played OK away from home but just not scored the goals.

"I said before the Southampton game we would need five wins and we've got two of them now. Three more and a couple of draws will see us safe."

Redknapp stuck with the side that secured that famous derby victory over Southampton.

But he warned them to buck up their ideas on the road.

Drilled

As a result, they carried the fight to Rovers and almost broke the deadlock after five minutes. Matt Taylor drilled a low cross past Friedel but Short cleared the danger with Yakubu ready to pounce.

At the other end, Jon Stead hooked a shot over the bar from a corner and then chased down Linvoy Primus and Dejan Stefanovich before testing Shaka Hislop.

But Pompey were not to be denied and they grabbed only their seventh away goal in the league this season after 17 minutes.

Yakubu tried to burst free from Andy Todd but was hauled back by his shorts on the edge of the area.

Ref Paul Durkin awarded the free-kick and Teddy Sheringham curled his effort around the side of the wall and into Friedel's net via the post.

Seconds later, Friedel saw the ball fizz by his hands again as Taylor launched a rocket from the left flank which was just off target.

Rovers responded and Stead latched on to Cole's pass, only for Hislop to superbly block his shot.

Friedel then turned his hand to the heroics to deny Steve Stone in the 25th minute.

Pompey were made to pay for that miss when Rovers levelled in the 37th minute.

But Tugay needed a huge chunk of luck to score as his deflected shot struck Taylor on the shin and flew past Yakubu on the post and into the goal.

A bout of gout left Rovers chief Graeme Souness sporting the odd mixture of one shoe and one trainer on the touchline.

And he was up and about far too often for his liking as he tried to coax his side into some kind of pattern of play rather than just humping the ball aimlessly forward.

One moment of class did go unrewarded as Lucas Neill picked out the unmarked Cole in the box.

It was the kind of chance the ex-England man used to bury in his hey-day but those times are gone and he headed his effort straight into Hislop's arms.

Garry Flitcroft was next to fluff a golden chance in the 51st minute as Rovers finally got their act together down the right.

Brett Emerton sent over a tempting cross but Flitcroft headed wide under pressure from Primus.

Emerton then played in Cole and he sent a rasping drive flying across the face of goal.

Neither side looked capable of taking a grip on the game — although Sheringham did miss a glorious chance to put Pompey back in front.

Alexei Smertin's run down the right left Portsmouth with players bombing into the area.

Blushes

The Russian laid a square pass into Sheringham's path and he fired his shot wide of the post.

But he was spared his blushes by Yakubu's winner.

Ewood boss Souness admitted: "We weren't creative enough to cause them problems.

"We just huffed and puffed and didn't do well enough in attack.

"This was a chance to put some distance between us and them and we haven't, so it's game on. It was a nervous display and, although that's understandable, it's not acceptable."